The Arkansas Department of Health announced that COVID-19 cases in Arkansas increased by 2,162 on Friday.

The state announced 53 new deaths as a result of COVID-19, bringing the toll in the state to 4,549 since the pandemic began.

Of the new cases added Friday, 158 are from Washington County and 115 come from Benton County.

Hospitalizations have continued to decline with a decrease of 18 on Friday, bringing the total number of Arkansans hospitalized with the virus to 1,142. There are 193 Arkansans on ventilators, down 2 from yesterday.

There are currently 20,107 cases of COVID-19 considered active in the state, which includes those that have tested positive by both PCR and antigen testing methods. This number has been on the decline so far this week.

The state reported 10,531 new PCR tests on Monday, along with 6,059 new antigen tests.

The new cases bring the total cumulative count in Arkansas to 281,382 since the pandemic began.

The state announced it has vaccinated 14,704 Arkansans since last count yesterday, bringing the total number of doses given in the state to 193,831. In addition, a federal program to vaccinate long-term care residents resulted in an additional 4 people vaccinated in the state.

The state began vaccinating the 1-B priority group on Monday of this week, which includes individuals over 70 years of age, and workers in education including higher ed, K-12, and daycare. Local pharmacies, including Collier Drug, Medical Arts Pharmacy, and Heartland Pharmacy in Fayetteville will vaccinate those in the 70 and older group, and some education workers. Others will be vaccinated through mass clinics organized by their employers.

According to a Facebook post from earlier this week by City Board of Health Public Information Officer Marti Sharkey, Fayetteville Public Schools employees will be vaccinated via appointments at Medical Arts Pharmacy and through a mass vaccination clinic by Washington Regional Medical Center.

University of Arkansas faculty and staff will begin to be vaccinated via a mass vaccination event on Saturday, Jan 23rd, starting with faculty and staff that are 70+. Sharkey said that other vaccination clinics for UA workers are also in the works as Pat Walker Health Center works on obtaining vaccine.

Here are links/info for the waiting lists for pharmacies in NWA for the 1-A and early 1-B group:
» Collier Drug Stores – Email [email protected]
» Medical Arts Pharmacy – Visit this website
» Community Pharmacy – Visit this website

A list of other pharmacies around the state vaccinating right now is available here.

The top counties for new cases announced Friday were Pulaski (286), Washington (158), Benton (115), Sebastian (111), and Pope (103).

Case reports

Vaccine updates