932 new covid cases reported in Arkansas on Thursday, while vaccinations top 17,000

Hospital rosters grow by 4 to 456

Pharmacist Edward "Burk" Buerkle (right) talks with Nancy Jordan before giving Jordan her second dose of the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine on Friday, April 9, 2021, at Freiderica Pharmacy and Compounding in downtown Little Rock. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)
Pharmacist Edward "Burk" Buerkle (right) talks with Nancy Jordan before giving Jordan her second dose of the Pfizer covid-19 vaccine on Friday, April 9, 2021, at Freiderica Pharmacy and Compounding in downtown Little Rock. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)


In a break from Arkansas' recent upward trend in new coronavirus cases, the state's case count rose Tuesday by 932, the first daily increase in eight days that was smaller than the one a week earlier.

Already at its highest level in more than six weeks, however, the number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 rose by four, to 456.


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The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by 24, to 8,776.

At his weekly news conference at the state Capitol, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he was pleased that the state had fewer new cases Tuesday than a week earlier, when its case count rose by 1,044.

But he noted that the number of cases in the state that were considered active and the number of Arkansans hospitalized with the virus were both up compared with a week earlier.

The active case total, which rose to 7,414 Tuesday, was up by more than 1,700 compared with the previous Tuesday, although down from a recent high of 7,555 Saturday and Sunday.

The number hospitalized with the virus was up by 47 compared with a week earlier.

Hutchinson also urged fully vaccinated Arkansans, especially those age 65 and older, to get their booster shots once they're eligible.

"As cases continue to increase, we're also seeing more breakthrough cases among vaccinated individuals age 65 and older who have not received a covid-19 booster dose," Hutchinson said.

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"That's why we're encouraging this population, particularly 65 and older, to get a booster dose."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended booster doses for everyone 18 and older who received their second doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine at least six months ago or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine at least two months ago.

"What we're learning about these vaccines is that this may not just be a two-dose vaccine," Arkansas Health Secretary Jose Romero said, referring to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

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"This may be a three-dose vaccine. We have vaccines that are three-dose vaccines, especially for adults, and this may change in the future."

He said people who are not vaccinated still make up "the bulk of the hospitalizations" from the virus, however.

"There are individuals that are getting older, that their immunity is waning and they're contributing to those hospitalizations, but they are far less than those that have not been vaccinated," Romero said.

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According to the Health Department's online coronavirus dashboard, 75.9% of the state's active cases as of Tuesday were among people who had not been fully vaccinated.

Since Feb. 1, infections among unvaccinated people have accounted for 85.6% of the state's cases, 87.6% of its hospitalizations from covid-19 and 85.7% of its deaths from the virus, according to the dashboard.

According to the CDC, of the 77.5% of Arkansans age 65 and older who had been fully vaccinated as of Tuesday, 46.8% had received booster doses.

Nationally, 86.6% of people 65 and older had been fully vaccinated. Of fully vaccinated senior citizens nationwide, 48.1% had received booster doses.

After falling the previous two days, the number of covid-19 patients in Arkansas who were on ventilators rose Tuesday by six, to 85, the largest number since Nov. 3.

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The number who were in intensive care rose by 15, to 182, its highest level since Oct. 26.

The number of intensive care unit beds in the state's hospitals that were unoccupied fell by 14, to 62.

People with covid-19 made up about 17% of all the state's intensive care unit patients Tuesday, up from almost 16% a day earlier.

VACCINATION UPTICK

Hutchinson called it "great news" that the Health Department's tally of vaccine doses that had been administered rose Tuesday by 17,052.

It was the largest one-day increase since Aug. 26, when the number rose by 31,544.

A Health Department official said at the time that the increase that day included some "data cleanup" and delayed reporting of doses that were given earlier.

Aside from that increase, the one on Tuesday was the largest since Aug. 3, near the height of the state's summer surge in coronavirus cases, when the number of doses administered rose by 30,756.

"What you can see is that whenever the risk increases, our vaccination increases, which means that Arkansans actually know they need to get the vaccine," Hutchinson said.

"They just have a tendency to put if off because they see the risk diminishing."

Booster shots accounted for almost 55% of Tuesday's increase in vaccine doses that had been administered.

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The count of first doses rose by 4,717, which was up slightly from the increase in first doses a week earlier.

The average number of total doses administered each day over a rolling seven-day period rose to 11,495, the first time it had been above 11,000 since the week ending Sept. 1.

The average for first doses rose to 3,332, which was still down slightly from its level just before Thanksgiving.

VACCINES FOR CHILDREN

Romero said vaccinations for children ages 5-11, who became eligible last month for a low-dose version of the Pfizer vaccine, are "moving forward" but lagging behind the national average.

According to the CDC, 11.4% of Arkansas children in that age group had received at least one dose as of Monday. Nationally, the percentage was 16.9%.

"Parents, this is a very safe and effective vaccine," Romero said.

"If we want to protect our children, we need to get this vaccine administered to all our children. We want to protect them as much as possible."

Also adding to the need for vaccinations and booster doses, he said, is the fast-spreading omicron variant, which had not been identified in Arkansas as of Tuesday although cases have been found in a growing number of other states, including Texas, Missouri, Mississippi and Louisiana.

Health Department spokeswoman Danyelle McNeill said the department has been notified of 17 people in Arkansas, up from 13 as of Monday, who had recently been to one of eight countries in southern Africa that are subject to a federal travel restriction that took effect last week in response to the new variant.

Through a contractor, the department has been contacting the people, and advising them to get tested and quarantine for at least seven days.

None of the people had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Tuesday, McNeill said.

According to the CDC, the percentage of Arkansans of all ages who had received at least one vaccine dose remained Tuesday at 61.1%, and the percentage who had been fully vaccinated remained at 49.8%.

The percentage of fully vaccinated Arkansans of all ages who had received a booster dose remained at 23.5%.

Among the states and District of Columbia, Arkansas continued to rank 37th in the percentage of its population that had received at least one vaccine dose.

In the percentage of its residents who were fully vaccinated, it fell from being roughly tied with Tennessee for 42nd on Monday to 43rd, ahead of Georgia, North Dakota, West Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Wyoming and Idaho.

Nationally, 71.2% of people of all ages had received at least one vaccine dose as of Tuesday, and 60.1% were fully vaccinated.

Of fully vaccinated people of all ages nationally, 24% had received booster doses.

HUCKABEE BOOK

An updated version of a booklet aiming to educate children about the coronavirus -- which is published by a company co-founded by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee -- is being distributed to Arkansas schools, state Education Secretary Johnny Key said Tuesday.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported in September that the state used federal coronavirus relief funds to purchase booklets titled "The Kids Guide to the Coronavirus" in 2020 at a total cost of $245,300 and was planned to do so again in 2021, spending $265,448.

The 2020 deal between the state and Everbright Media, which Huckabee founded in 2011, was first reported by national news website The Daily Beast. The Arkansas Department of Education previously told the Democrat-Gazette that the books are exempt from the state's procurement procedures as educational materials.

The Democrat-Gazette reviewed a copy of the updated version, "The Kids Guide to Covid-19 and Vaccination," which recommends wearing a mask in crowded places to prevent the spread of germs and to protect oneself from the virus. It also explains how vaccines work, and that the covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective.

Key said at Hutchinson's news conference Tuesday that the books are intended as a resource for children ages 5-11 and their parents.

"It's designed to be a tool for parents to read with their children and help make an informed decision. Obviously this isn't comprehensive information, we still recommend working with and consulting medical professionals on that," Key said.

He said the new books began arriving at schools last week. He said he hoped they would all be distributed to elementary schools before the Christmas holiday.

CASES BY COUNTY

Among Arkansas counties, Benton County had the most new cases Tuesday with 68, followed by Pulaski County with 60 and Craighead County with 57.

The state's cumulative count of cases rose to 534,590.

McNeill said 15 of the deaths reported Tuesday happened within the past month.

Of the others, one happened in August, and the rest occurred in October.

According to the Health Department, 8.8% of the state's coronavirus tests were positive over the seven-day span ending Monday, up slightly from the 8.7% that were initially reported for the week ending Sunday.

Hutchinson has said he wants to keep the percentage below 10%.

The number of people who have ever been hospitalized in the state with covid-19 grew Tuesday by 79, to 28,676.

The number who have ever been on ventilators with covid-19 rose by nine, to 3,017.

Information for this report was contributed by Rachel Herzog of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.




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