The daily increase of new and active covid-19 cases dipped lower Friday while vaccine doses administered took a dive as well, according to data from the state Department of Health.
Another 303 new cases were added -- 276 fewer than the previous day -- bringing the cumulative total to 526,706.
Meanwhile, the number of vaccine doses that providers reported having administered, including second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, rose by 1,206 to 3,385,577. On the same day a week ago, 11,254 vaccine doses were administered -- 10,048 more than Friday.
"Vaccine doses administered yesterday are lower than the previous week," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a social media post Friday afternoon. "This was expected due to the Thanksgiving holiday. If you're out shopping today, make sure you do what you need to protect yourself as covid is still present across the state."
No deaths were reported Friday, keeping the death toll at 8,652 since March 2020.
The number of cases in the state that were considered active fell by 296 to 5,877.
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VACCINATIONS
The number of individuals fully immunized increased by 190, to a total of 1,437,796, or 50.5% of Arkansans 5 years old and up. The number of Arkansans partially immunized against the virus increased by 349, to 324,015, or 11.4% of the population 5 years old and up.
As of Friday, 281,882 third vaccine doses had been administered.
Of the new cases reported Friday, 86% involved unvaccinated people while 87.9% of those hospitalized had not received the shots. About 78.4% of the active cases and 86% of the deaths involved unvaccinated people.
As of Friday afternoon, there have been 102,132 Arkansas children from birth to 18 years old who were diagnosed with covid-19 since the pandemic began, according to the state Health Department.
Of those cases, 934 children were hospitalized with covid-19, and 119 were admitted to intensive care.
The state has reported 4,300 cases in children under a year old; 12,077 cases in children 1-4 years old; 33,236 cases in children 5-11 years old; and 52,519 cases in children 12-18 years old.
About 96% of patients ages 12-18 were unvaccinated. About 9.8% of the 12- to 18-year-old population in Arkansas is partially vaccinated, while 42.2% is fully vaccinated.
On Friday, the state had 1,617 active cases among patients from newborn to 18 years old.
HOSPITALIZATIONS
The number of patients hospitalized with covid-19 rose by 22 to 334, while the number of patients who were on ventilators increased by two to 66.
Since the pandemic began in March 2020, there have been 28,250 Arkansans hospitalized from the virus while 2,979 required ventilators.
The covid-19 case load has dipped for CHI St. Vincent, Bonnie Ward, CHI St. Vincent director of marketing and communications, said in an email. Ward did not release specific capacity numbers.
"The reduced volume of patients with covid-19 has allowed CHI St. Vincent hospitals to reallocate some resources to other critical care needs within our communities," Ward said. "Our ministry is also aware of the possibility of another surge of covid-19 cases and is following testing rates closely in order to remain prepared to meet the needs of our communities."
Ward added that the hospital system encourages community members to get vaccinated immediately, if they have not already done so, because that is the best way to bring an end to the pandemic.
"With the holidays approaching and overall fewer travel restrictions in place, we encourage families to continue taking steps to minimize the spread of covid-19, including regular hand washing, social distancing, wearing masks where appropriate and getting the vaccine," Ward said.
TEST RESULTS
There were 3,443 newly reported covid-19 tests, comprising 3,298 PCR and 145 antigen tests.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 5,457,358 tests have been reported. Of that number, 550,528 were positive for covid-19, according to Health Department data.
COUNTY CASES
Health Department data indicates that Washington County had the largest increase in total cases, with the count rising by 26.
The next highest increase was Pulaski County with 23, then Benton County with 22.
According to Health Department data, Washington County has 434 active cases while Pulaski County has 598 and Benton County has 545.