LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - More than 4,000 Arkansas health care workers have been vaccinated with the state’s initial allotment of the vaccine to combat the coronavirus pandemic, according to Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
During his weekly radio address Friday, Hutchinson said he expects the number of people who can be vaccinated will increase now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a second vaccine, this one created by Moderna Inc.
Arkansas expected to have the first shipments of the Moderna vaccine on Tuesday, Hutchinson said.
The state received about 25,000 doses of its first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine, which were sent to 18 larger hospitals, the Department of Health, and several pharmacies.
“We are well on our way to vaccinating thousands of Arkansans, which is the only way we are ever going to beat this virus,” Hutchinson said.
The state’s probable and confirmed virus cases rose by 2,693 to 200,114, according to the Arkansas Department of Health. Officials reported 52 new deaths, bringing the state’s total fatalities since the pandemic began to 3,191.
The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 fell by 12 to 1,061.
One in every 191 people in Arkansas tested positive in the past week, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
Hutchinson said there continues to be a high level of spread of the virus in both highly-populated and rural areas.
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