Arkansas reported no new deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday for the first time in more than a month as the state count of cases rose by 244.
The death toll as of Wednesday, as tracked by the state Department of Health, stood at 5,805.
The department also reported that the number of people hospitalized in the state with covid-19 remained at 188.
"The good news is that we recorded no additional COVID-19 deaths in today's report," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a tweet.
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"We also saw a higher increase in vaccine doses distributed than this time last week. Vaccine doses are available in every county in the state, so get vaccinated today."
Wednesday was just the fourth day this year the state didn't report any new deaths from covid-19. The other three were all in a row, from April 9-11.
Also on Wednesday, Hutchinson's office said in an email that he would address reporters today on "the expiration of the current COVID-19 State of Emergency" that he first declared in March 2020.
Without an extension, the declaration is set to expire May 30.
Act 403, signed by Hutchinson in March, requires any request for such an extension to be submitted to the Legislative Council for approval at least 10 days before the expiration date.
The increase in cases on Wednesday was smaller than the 313 that were added a day earlier but larger, by 20, than the increase a week earlier.
As a result, the average number of cases added to the state's tallies each day over a rolling seven-day period rose by about three, to 195.
The number of the state's virus patients who were on ventilators rose by three, to 35.
State Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said she was "fairly happy" to see a smaller increase in cases compared with Tuesday's and no new deaths or increase in the number of Arkansans hospitalized with covid-19.
"Overall, I thought it was a pretty good day," Dillaha said.
Dillaha also said Wednesday that the state has had one child who died of covid-19. She declined to say when the death occurred or provide any other details, citing privacy concerns.
The state's online dashboard of coronavirus information didn't list any covid-19 deaths among children as of Wednesday.
VACCINE AVAILABLE
Last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer vaccine for children as young as 12.
The other two vaccines that have been authorized by the agency, from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, have been cleared only for adults.
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Dillaha said Wednesday that Pfizer vaccine is available at each of the Health Department's 92 local health units around the state. Because it must be stored at ultra-low temperatures, however, vials of the vaccine are being shipped to the units as needed from the department's headquarters in Little Rock.
People who want a Pfizer shot from one of the units must call ahead of time to make an appointment, Dillaha said.
Help getting access to the vaccine is available through the department's vaccine hotline at (800) 985-6030.
At a Pfizer vaccine clinic scheduled for Saturday at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, people who get the shots can enter a drawing for free tickets to Magic Springs, Arkansas Travelers games, a Foreigner concert at the arena on Aug. 8 and a Banda MS concert there on Sept. 17, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences announced Wednesday.
Masks will be required. People can sign up for the shots by visiting vaccinesignup.uams.edu/mobileclinic. Walk-ins are also allowed.
The total number of vaccine doses that had been administered in the state, including second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, rose Wednesday by 9,788, to 1,892,738, the Health Department reported.
It was the first increase in five days that was larger than the one a week earlier.
At 8,666, the average number of doses administered per day over a rolling seven-day period was up slightly from the number as of a day earlier but still down from the average of more than 9,400 per day that were administered during the week ending May 12.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of Arkansans who had received at least one vaccine dose rose Wednesday by 3,912, to 1,142,312, representing about 37.9% of the state's population.
The number who had been fully vaccinated rose by 3,809, to 890,328, or about 29.5% of the state's population.
Among the states and District of Columbia, Arkansas continued to rank 44th in the percentage of its residents who had received at least one vaccine dose and 49th, ahead of only Alabama and Mississippi, in the percentage who were fully vaccinated.
Nationally, 47.9% of people had received at least one dose and 37.8% were fully vaccinated.
SURVEY RESULTS
Meanwhile, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday that 19.7% of Arkansan adults said they "definitely" or "probably" would not get a covid-19 vaccine, according to responses collected April 28-May 10 in an ongoing survey.
That was up slightly from the 16.1% who said they definitely or probably wouldn't get the vaccine in responses collected April 14-26 but down from 28.2% of those surveyed Jan. 6-18.
Nationally, 11.4% of adults surveyed in the latest collection period said they definitely or probably wouldn't get the vaccine.
The latest results included responses from more than 78,000 people, including 957 in Arkansas, who filled out an online questionnaire after being contacted by email or text message by the Census Bureau.
The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9% in Arkansas on the percentage of adults who definitely or probably wouldn't get the vaccine.
According to the CDC, the Arkansans who had received at least one vaccine dose as of Wednesday included 48.4% of the state's adults.
Of the Arkansans who reported in the Census Bureau survey that they had not already gotten a shot, about 26% said they would definitely or probably get vaccinated, while about 57% said they would definitely or probably not get one. About 16% were undecided.
Among those said they who definitely or probably wouldn't get vaccinated, 41.8% said they were concerned about side effects, 41.1% said they didn't trust the government and 36.3% said they didn't trust the vaccines.
ACTIVE CASES RISE
The cases that were added to Arkansas' tallies on Wednesday included 164 that were confirmed through polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, tests.
The other 80 were "probable" cases, which include those identified through less-sensitive antigen tests.
The state's cumulative count of cases rose to 339,406.
That comprised 265,312 confirmed cases and 74,094 probable ones.
The number of cases that were considered active rose by 29, to 1,999, as new cases outpaced recoveries.
Pulaski County had the most new cases, 52, followed by Benton County, which had 23, and Saline County, which had 18.
The Health Department didn't report any new cases among prison or jail inmates.
The number of people who have ever been hospitalized in the state with covid-19 grew by 19, to 16,164.
The number of the state's virus patients who have ever been on a ventilator rose by one, to 1,648.