The Arkansas Department of Health announced that COVID-19 cases in Arkansas increased by 133 on Monday.
The state also announced 24 new deaths as a result of the virus, bringing the toll in the state to 5,343 since the pandemic began.
Hospitalizations were up by 3, bringing the total number of Arkansans hospitalized in the state to 338. There are 74 patients on ventilators, up 9 from yesterday.
There are currently 3,593 cases of COVID-19 considered active in the state, which includes those that have tested positive by both PCR and antigen testing methods. The ADH dashboard is showing 291 active cases in Washington County, and 381 active cases in Benton County.
The state reported 2,345 new PCR tests on Monday, along with 201 new antigen tests.
The new cases bring the total cumulative count in Arkansas to 324,951 since the pandemic began.
The top counties for new cases on Monday were Washington (19), Pulaski (17), Benton (13), Faulkner (10), and Garland (10).
The state announced it has vaccinated 6,856 Arkansans since last count yesterday, bringing the total number of doses given by the state to 684,280. In addition, a federal program to vaccinate long-term care residents and others at retail pharmacies resulted in an additional 1,367 people vaccinated in the state, bringing the total number of Arkansans vaccinated as part of their efforts to 57,924.
For the last seven days (March 2-8), the state has received 186,130 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and administered 90,372. This does not include doses of the new one shot Janssen / Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and data for those shots has not been included in state vaccination totals thus far. The federal program mostly being facilitated by Walmart currently received 47,990 shots from the federal government over that same period, and administered 15,232 shots.
Last week (Feb. 23-March 1), the state received 210,495 doses and administered 118,681 shots. The federal program received 26,560 shots last week and administered 10,664.
According to the NY Times vaccine tracker, Arkansas currently ranks 45th among states in vaccine distribution with 16% of the population receiving at least one shot, and 9.2% considered fully vaccinated with two shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
The state began vaccinating the 1-B priority group on Jan. 18. The groups eligible to receive vaccines includes individuals over 65 years of age, workers in food manufacturing, and workers in education including higher ed, K-12, and daycare. Governor Asa Hutchinson today added essential workers in food and agriculture, grocery stores, meal delivery, postal service, public transit, government workers, houses of worship, along with those with developmental disabilities as new groups now eligible for the vaccine.
Local pharmacies, including Collier Drug, Medical Arts Pharmacy, and Heartland Pharmacy in Fayetteville will vaccinate those in the 65 and older group, and some education workers. Others will be vaccinated through mass clinics organized by their employers.
Vaccination clinics are also taking place around the region, including at Washington Regional, Northwest Health, and Mercy in Springdale.
Here are links/info for the waiting lists for pharmacies in Washington County for the 1-A and early 1-B group:
» Collier Drug Stores – Visit this website
» Medical Arts Pharmacy – Visit this website
» Community Pharmacy – Visit this website
» Heartland Pharmacy – Visit this website
» Walmart – Visit this website
» Sam’s Club – Visit this website Pharmacy
A list of other pharmacies around the state vaccinating right now is available here.
Case report
Vaccine update
