The Arkansas Department of Health will start administering the new single-shot Johnson & Johnson covid-19 vaccine on Monday, a spokesman said.
Gavin Lesnick said the Health Department received roughly 24,000 doses of the Janssen vaccine after the Food and Drug Administration approved it on Feb. 27. Janssen is a division of Johnson & Johnson.
On Saturday, 18,144 vaccine doses were administered, raising Arkansas’ total number of shots administered above 670,000. Nearly 17,000 vaccines were administered Friday.
Also on Saturday, the state's tally of covid-19 cases increased by 327, a decline from Friday’s increase of 570, according to the Health Department.
The state’s tally of active cases fell by 136 from Friday to Saturday. The 4,160 active cases reported in the state is the lowest tally in almost nine months.
Fourteen additional deaths were linked to the coronavirus on Saturday. The reported death toll from the coronavirus in Arkansas since March 2020 rose Saturday to 5,297, and was expected to top 5,300 this week ahead of the one-year anniversary of the virus's arrival in Arkansas.
More details in Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.