1 million people fully vaccinated in Arkansas, tally shows

Governor: ‘Get the shot now’

Ed’Regina Barnes, a licensed practical nurse, gives Jakobe White, 16, his first dose of the Pfzier coronavirus vaccine Saturday, May 15, 2021 during a vaccination clinic at Dunbar Community Center in Little Rock. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)
Ed’Regina Barnes, a licensed practical nurse, gives Jakobe White, 16, his first dose of the Pfzier coronavirus vaccine Saturday, May 15, 2021 during a vaccination clinic at Dunbar Community Center in Little Rock. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)

The number of Arkansans who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus has surpassed 1 million, even as Arkansas remains one of the most vaccine-hesitant states, according to numbers released by the Arkansas Department of Health on Monday.

So far, 1,002,802 Arkansans have been fully vaccinated, accounting for 39.2% percent of the population 12 and older. A further 225,297 Arkansans have been partially immunized against covid-19, according to the department.

Reported deaths from covid-19 rose Monday by seven, to 5,920.

In a tweet, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Monday's numbers could be a worrying sign for what's ahead.

"We now have over 1 million Arkansans fully vaccinated," Hutchinson said. "This is a milestone, but we need to pick up the pace before school starts this fall. This could be a tough week in new cases and hospitalizations, so get the shot now."

Despite the benchmark for vaccinations, the total of reported cases increased over the weekend with an additional 238 Monday, 244 Sunday and 764 Saturday, for a total of 1,246. The cumulative case count is now 351,825.

[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]

As of Monday, there were 4,752 active cases of the coronavirus in Arkansas, 134 fewer than were reported on Sunday, according to tweets from Hutchinson, which included Health Department data from Saturday, Sunday and Monday. In total, 341,079 people have recovered from the virus, according to the department.

There were 361 covid-19 positive hospital admissions, with 166 of those patients being admitted to intensive care units, according to numbers released by the Health Department on Monday. Hutchinson said 70 covid-19 positive patients are on ventilators, four fewer than on Sunday.

Pulaski County still leads the state in the number of cases, with an additional 60 being reported by the Health Department on Monday.

Following Pulaski County, Benton County had 18 reported cases and Craighead County had 14 Monday, according to the Health Department.

VARIANTS

With the steady increases in cases being reported Monday, the Department of Health released its weekly numbers on variants.

Of the most concern to public officials is the delta variant, which is 30 to 50 times more contagious and is likely driving new cases, according to Health Secretary Jose Romero.

Romero said the main concern for health officials is the majority of Arkansans who are not fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Those who are fully vaccinated are protected from the delta variant, Romero said.

"The concern is more for those individuals that are unvaccinated or have only received partial immunization," Romero said in a statement. "A single dose of two-dose series vaccine does not provide adequate protection against the Delta variant."

Cases of the delta variant, from India, rose from 60 to 85 over the past week, according to numbers released by the Health Department on Monday.

[EMAIL SIGNUP: Form not appearing above? Click here to subscribe to updates on the coronavirus » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus/email/]

The number of reported cases from the alpha variant, which first emerged from the United Kingdom, rose from 359 last week to 377 Monday.

Test results confirming the variants can take between one and three weeks, meaning much of the data released Monday is from previous weeks, said Meg Mirivel, a spokeswoman for the state Health Department.

The Health Department also reported data from the detection of other variants, with one additional case of the gamma variant, from Brazil, bringing the total to 31.

There were no additional cases of the variants that emerged from California, leaving the total at 42 cases.

Upcoming Events