Governor’s Update

State officials announced two new initiatives Tuesday afternoon in hopes of seeing COVID-19 vaccination rates improve among younger Arkansans.

The first will increase reimbursement rates for physicians when they administer a vaccine to a Medicaid recipient. The rate will be increased from the current rate of $40 to $100 for a two-dose complete vaccination or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the goal behind the rate increase is to increase vaccination rates by encouraging physicians to counsel Medicaid recipients towards getting the vaccine. In total, Hutchinson said only four percent of Arkansas’ Medicaid population has received the vaccine.

Arkansas Education Secretary Johnny Key then spoke about a new campaign to be launched in Arkansas schools called “Stop the Hesitation, Get the Vaccination.” The campaign will seek to encourage parents to speak with their children’s healthcare providers to learn more about the vaccine and the benefits of taking it.

In all more than 1.1 million Arkansans are now fully immunized. Data from the Arkansas Department of Health shows 92 percent of the new cases detected over the past two weeks are among non-vaccinated people.

The Arkansas Department of Health reported another sizable increase in new cases as of Tuesday, with an additional 2,620 reported over the previous 24 hour period. In total, there have been nearly 408,000 transmissions in the state since the pandemic began. The delta variant of the virus continues to target younger Arkansans, with 19 percent of new cases among those 18 and under. An increase from 12 percent one year ago.

Active cases saw a net increase of 562 on Tuesday for a current total of 23,377 – one of the highest active caseloads seen so far. Over the same period deaths increased by 24 for a total of 6,346. Hospitalizations saw another rise into record territory with 1,435 Arkansans currently hospitalized due to the virus.