Snowy weather continued to hamper Arkansas' coronavirus testing and vaccination efforts as the state's count of cases Wednesday rose by 667.
State Department of Health spokesman Gavin Lesnick said the weather appeared to be the cause of a delay affecting the delivery of 13,600 doses of the Moderna vaccine that were designated to provide the initial shots of the two-dose regimen.
That's almost half the 28,900 initial doses of the Moderna vaccine the state was allocated for this week.
Lesnick said in an email that the department was "waiting on delivery to be scheduled" for the 13,600 doses and notifying providers of the delay.
Meanwhile, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences spokeswoman Leslie Taylor said the university Tuesday afternoon administered 330 doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech to students, employees and employees' spouses and other family members just before the doses were set to expire.
The university had originally planned to administer the doses at its public clinic in Little Rock for Arkansans age 70 and older and employees of schools and child care centers, but the clinic has been closed this week because of the weather.
"We will not waste vaccine if at all possible," Taylor said.
The state's increase in cases Wednesday was bigger than the previous day's but more than 400 fewer than were added the previous Wednesday, Feb. 10.
The number of patients hospitalized with covid-19 in Arkansas fell by 36, to 602, reaching its lowest level since Oct. 18.
It was the fifth day in a row that the number of virus patients in the state's hospitals had fallen.
The number of covid-19 patients who were on ventilators fell by two, to 108. The number who were in intensive care units as of 2 p.m. fell by 17, to 233.
The state's death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by 26, to 5,313.
"We once again saw a decrease in testing yesterday, which was impacted by the weather," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement.
"We received an additional 18,525 vaccine doses yesterday, and we will continue to administer these doses as quickly as possible. Please continue to take necessary precautions against COVID-19 and limit road travel as much as possible."
UAMS CLINIC
Under Arkansas' coronavirus vaccine plan, residents eligible for the shots include health care workers; first responders; residents and workers at long-term-care facilities; employees of schools and child care centers; and people age 70 and older.
Taylor said UAMS notified students and employees through emails and social media posts Tuesday about the special vaccination clinic that was held on the university's main campus to administer the 330 Pfizer doses.
[Interactive Arkansas map not showing up above? Click here to see it: nwaonline.com/arvirus]
She said the university made the shots available to all students, instead of just those involved in patient care, then extended the offer to family members of employees.
"We didn't get as many students as we wanted at first, but then they started showing up," she said.
She said about half of the doses ended up going to students and employees, with the other half going to family members.
"We ended up with a lot of people," Taylor said. "We weren't able to vaccinate everybody."
The doses had been prepared to be administered at the university's public vaccination clinic at the Freeway Medical Tower in Little Rock.
Taylor said that clinic would remain closed today because of the weather.
UAMS' drive-thru covid-19 testing clinic will also remain closed.
The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at minus-94 degrees Fahrenheit before being thawed for use.
After being thawed, it can be kept in the refrigerator for up to five days but cannot be refrozen, according to Pfizer.
State Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said the Health Department's preference is for a vaccinator who is "up against the clock" to avoid wasting vaccine by giving it to someone currently eligible for it.
But she added that "UAMS has been a good partner, and they've been very conscientious."
"I do not fault them for any decisions they made for keeping the vaccines from going to waste," she said.
Taylor added that the weather had delayed plans to move the public vaccination clinic to the Centre at University Park on 12th Street in Little Rock.
Instead of Saturday, the clinic will move to the new location on Feb. 25, she said.
Baptist Health's vaccination clinic in Little Rock for patients 70 and older will remain closed today for the second day in a row, but will reopen Friday, spokeswoman Cara Wade said.
Appointments must be made through an online MyChart account. Information on registering for an account is available on the website at baptist-health.com/covid-19-vaccine.
Arkansas Pharmacists Association Chief Executive Officer John Vinson said some vaccine clinics that had been planned for this week have been rescheduled, but some pharmacists were continuing to administer doses for customers who were able to show up for their appointments.
He said the Health Department had worked with utilities to ensure that pharmacies and hospitals with vaccine weren't affected by controlled outages.
Lesnick said the department has been "working with the [Department of Public Safety's Division of] Emergency Management and the utilities, and have provided them a list of the locations for vaccines for them to prioritize power issues."
The Health Department's 94 local health units around the state, which offer covid-19 testing, all remained closed because of the weather Wednesday for the second day in a row. The units were also closed Monday for George Washington's Birthday and Daisy Gatson Bates Day.
DOSES REPORTED
According to the Health Department, pharmacies and other providers participating in the vaccination effort being coordinated by the state had received 676,525 doses of vaccine as of Wednesday morning.
That was an increase of 18,525 doses compared with the number a day earlier.
The doses the providers reported having administered rose by 3,710, to 462,141.
In addition, the Health Department said Walmart, Walgreens and CVS had administered a total of 27,498 doses, an increase of 4,418 from the total a day earlier.
Walgreens and CVS were allocated 49,400 doses of the Moderna vaccine for residents and workers in Arkansas long-term-care facilities as part of a federal program.
They have since made some of the doses available to eligible members of the broader public after it was discovered that they had more than they needed to cover the facilities.
Walmart was allocated 11,600 doses last week for vaccinations that began at 58 stores in the state as part of a different federal program.
On its website, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 345,271 Arkansans, or about 11.4% of the state's population, had received at least one vaccine dose as of Wednesday.
That was an increase of 1,634 from the number the agency reported a day earlier.
The number of Arkansans who had received two doses rose by 1,839, to 138,254, representing 4.6% of the state's population.
Among the states and District of Columbia, Arkansas fell from 30th to 31st in the percentage of its population who had received at least one vaccine dose and from 24th to 26th in the percentage who had received both doses.
Nationally, 12.1% of people had received at least one dose, and 4.6% had received both doses.
Within Arkansas, the percentage of residents age 16 or older who have received at least one vaccine dose ranged from 18.7% in Cleveland County to 3.6% in Miller County.
Among the state's most populous counties, the percentage was 16% in Pulaski County, 9.2% in Benton County, 11.2% in Washington County, 10.4% in Sebastian County, 15.8% in Faulkner County, 15.3% in Saline County, 16.6% in Craighead County and 15.5% in Garland County.
The statewide percentage was 14.5%.
TESTING DOWN
Dillaha said she was glad to see a low number of new cases Wednesday, although she was concerned that "that's more a reflection of the lack of testing."
She noted that the number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 has continued to go down, which "may be more of an indicator of the burden of disease than the number of new cases."
The Health Department reported that a total of 2,081 polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests and antigen tests of Arkansans were performed Tuesday.
That was down from the 2,232 that the department reported had been performed Monday and less than a fourth of the number of tests that were performed the previous Tuesday, Feb. 9.
Although the cold weather may slow the spread of the virus further by keeping people at home, Dillaha said she was concerned that it may also keep sick people from seeking care.
"I'm especially concerned about people who are at high risk for progression of severe covid-19 and might benefit from one of the treatments such as the monoclonal antibody," Dillaha said. "They might not get it timely if they're not able to get to a location where they can get the monoclonal antibody infusion."
She said people who are seriously ill should "find a way to get to the emergency room."
"If they don't have a way to go, and they're having trouble breathing, they need to call 911 and get some help," she said.
ACTIVE CASES FALL
The cases that were added to the state's tallies Wednesday included 410 that were confirmed through PCR tests.
The other 257 were "probable" cases, which include those identified through less-sensitive antigen tests.
The state's cumulative count of cases rose to 314,192.
That comprised 248,855 confirmed cases and 65,337 probable ones.
The number of cases that were considered active fell by 865, to 8,239, as 1,506 Arkansans were newly classified as having recovered.
Garland County had the largest number of new cases, 100, followed by Benton County, which had 90, Washington County, which had 86, Sebastian County, which had 59, and Pulaski County, which had 47.
Neither the Health Department nor the Department of Corrections reported any increase in cases among prison and jail inmates.
Among nursing home and assisted living facility residents, the state's count of virus deaths rose by five, to 2,000.
The number of people who have ever been hospitalized in the state with covid-19 rose by 40, to 14,432.
The number of the state's virus patients who have ever been on a ventilator with covid-19 rose by eight, to 1,488.