COVID-19 in Arkansas: Gov. Hutchinson says ‘goal line is in sight’ with Arkansas vaccine efforts

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The push to get more vaccinations administered in Arkansas is showing some success, according to the latest information from state health officials.

New data released Friday shows that 371,359 Arkansans have been fully immunized through state programs, with an additional 336,784 states residents being partially immunized.

In total, 1,056,387 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been given through state and federal programs out of more than 1.8 million available doses.

Friday saw 184 new cases of COVID-19 in Arkansas, moving the active case count to 2,061. There have been 329,695 total Arkansas cases since the start of the pandemic.

The Arkansas Department of Health reports 12 new deaths from COVID-19 in the last day, moving the state total to 5,583. There are currently 179 patients hospitalized in the state with the virus, 32 of which are on ventilators.

Governor Asa Hutchinson continued to encourage more Arkansans to get vaccinated, saying the “goal line was in sight” for the pandemic’s end.

“My optimism grows daily as the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continues to decline. We have administered more than a million doses of vaccine to more than 700,000 Arkansans. The goal line is in sight, but this is not the time to slack off. We need to increase the number of people who are getting the vaccine. I encourage you to receive a vaccination as soon as you are eligible. If you don’t do it for yourself, do it for your family and friends.”