LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced on Tuesday a goal that half of all Arkansans have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination within the next 90 days.
He said about 34% of people in the state have had at least one dose, so the goal will require seeing more than 467,000 people get at least one shot in that time frame, an average of almost 5,200 per day.
With the goal in mind, a graphic he shared Tuesday showed the percentage of population in each county that still must have at least one dose within 90 days, including:
• Boone County — 26.4%
• Carroll County — 22.4%
• Marion County — 29.6%
• Newton County — 31.5%
• Searcy County — 25.1%
Hutchinson compared coronavirus vaccination rate with influenza vaccination. He said last year was the highest rate with about 55% of people getting the shots. The normal rate in past years has been between 40% and 50%.
“So, we’re setting a goal for COVID vaccinations even higher than what we normally do to avoid the flu,” the governor said.
He noted the importance of the timeframe. Ninety days would be just short of school starting again and probably about the time many schools begin football practice.
Health Secretary Dr. José Romero said variants of the coronavirus are being seen more and more across the state. The UK variant now makes up 75% of total variants in the state.
That variant is more prevalent in children who become seriously ill. He said children aren’t currently approved for vaccinations.
“One way to protect them is to form a cocoon around them by adults and adolescents receiving the vaccine,” Romero said.
Hutchinson said herd immunity is generally considered when 70% or more of the population has been vaccinated. Romero added that herd immunity in the entire country is not currently an attainable goal without more people vaccinated.
Hutchinson called on Renee Brink with the Arkansas Department of Health to explain the proposed strategy for increasing vaccinations.
Brink said most clinics to date have been by appointment. That will begin to change in the near future.
So, state health officials asked local officials for a list of where people will gather. Pop-up clinics are scheduled for many of those events, from motorcycle rallies to festivals to ball games and high school graduations.
“Our goal is to get as many shots in arms as we possibly can so that we can get our numbers trending down again and hopefully resume as normal of a life as we can have after March of last year,” Brink said.
