Arkansas' vaccine numbers lag other Sundays in November; governor says they're still 'good to see'

Active cases fall by 64; 5,116 more shots administered

National Guard Senior Airman Marie Dahlke, a registered nurse, finishes packaging a covid test at the drive-thru screening center at UAMS in Little Rock in this Monday, May 4, 2020, file photo. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Stephen Swofford)
National Guard Senior Airman Marie Dahlke, a registered nurse, finishes packaging a covid test at the drive-thru screening center at UAMS in Little Rock in this Monday, May 4, 2020, file photo. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Stephen Swofford)


Medical providers gave out another 5,116 doses of covid-19 vaccine to Arkansans, according to the Department of Health update Sunday.

This weekend's vaccine numbers are slightly lower than the previous Sunday reports this month, according to past updates. The Nov. 7 update reported 6,627, Nov. 14 reported 5,259 and Nov. 21 reported 5,979.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday that reaching more than 5,000 new vaccines was good, especially combined with the Health Department's report that the state saw no new deaths from the virus.

"This is great news as we continue to fight new incoming variants and must do all we can to prevent more cases," Hutchinson said in his daily tweet about covid-19.

Vaccine distribution in the state also went down because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but the Health Department communications director Meg Mirivel said the 5,361 shots given Saturday "is a good number" for a holiday weekend.

As of Sunday, 50.6% (1,439,842 people) of the state's population 5 years old and up were fully immunized and another 11.4% were partially so.

The Arkansas Department of Health changed the population count it uses for these numbers on Nov. 15 to reflect the 2020 census population for Arkansas and added individuals age 5-11 years old.

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"This change resulted in a decrease in the percent of individuals partially and fully immunized as reported on the covid-19 dashboard," according to its website.

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Some 287,226 residents have received their third dose/booster shot. All Arkansans age 5 or older are now eligible to receive the vaccine, according to the Health Department.

[VACCINE INFO: See the latest information on covid-19 vaccines in Arkansas » arkansasonline.com/vaccineinfo/]


Eligible residents can make an appointment to get a vaccine at a pharmacy in their community, which can be found online with the Health Department's interactive map and site listing.

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"Vaccine clinics and events may also be available in your area through hospitals, health care providers, or your worksite," according to the department's website, healthy.arkansas.gov. "For those who work in education, the district, facility, or college/university should determine how many doses are needed, and then reach out to an ADH Local Health Unit or a community pharmacy to schedule a vaccination clinic."

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Arkansans who receive a covid-19 vaccine after the effective date of May 26, 2021, are eligible to receive an incentive for getting vaccinated.

The overall number of active cases went down by 64 from Saturday's number for a new count of 5,829, according to the Sunday report. Of those, 363 are currently hospitalized (nine more than Saturday) and 67 of those patients are on ventilators (one less).

Active cases had trended marginally upwards since the beginning of the month, but remain at less than a fourth of the number of active cases the Arkansas saw back in mid-August.

[Interactive Arkansas map not showing up above? Click here to see it: arkansasonline.com/arvirus]


November started with 4,455 active cases, according to the Health Department website's interactive covid data, and has thus far peaked last week with nearly 6,400 cases.


Residents 25-34 years old make up the largest covid-positive age group with 895 (over 15%) cases as of Sunday, according to latest data available at the Department of Health's website. Those 65 and older made up the next highest age group with 885 cases, followed by 35-44 year olds with 827 cases.


Teenagers ages 18-19 accounted for 514 (8.8%) of the current active cases with younger children accounting for 884 (over 15%) cases.

Arkansas has 374 new cases of covid-19 as of Sunday, bringing the total since March 2020 to 527,587.

Benton County saw the most new cases with 66, followed by Pulaski County with 37, and Craighead County with 25.

Information for this report was provided by Tess Vrbin of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.




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