The state of Arkansas has opened COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all Arkansans age 16 and older.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced on Tuesday, March 30 that vaccination would be opened to all Arkansans age 16 and older. This vaccine eligibility takes effect today (March 30).
According to Hutchinson, this opening is intended to boost vaccine demand in the state. Increasing demand and getting more individuals vaccinated, he said, will result in a quick resolution to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This will, obviously, increase the demand for the vaccine. It might take some time to get the appointment you want. We’re opening it up because we want to make sure we maximize every opportunity to get this life-saving vaccine into the arms of Arkansans and to accelerate that to the extent that we can,” he said.
As of Tuesday, there have been 769,106 individuals who have been partially immunized and 407,828 who have been fully immunized. Of the 1662,850 doses that have been distributed in Arkansas, 1,153,739, or 69.4 percent, have been an administered.
This has been a shift opening of the vaccine eligibility. Hutchinson opened eligibility for Phase 1C on March 16, which included Arkansans age 16 to 64 with health conditions that increased their risk for “severe COVID-19,” as well as essential workers in the energy, finance, food service, information technology and communications, legal, media, public health/human services, public safety, shelter and housing, and transportation and logistics fields; and individuals living in “high-risk settings.”
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