GOVERNOR CALLS for catching up on vaccination efforts as cases rise by 517.

The state’s count of new cases of coronavirus remained low Saturday, with the Arkansas Health Department reporting 517 infections since Friday, when there was an uptick of just over 260 new cases.

Public health officials said that although they are optimistic about the smaller increases, the lower counts could reflect that fewer people got tested for covid-19 during the cold, snowy weather of the past week.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson posted several tweets Saturday emphasizing the need to catch up on vaccination efforts after the week of wintry weather forced widespread cancellations of vaccination clinics.

“Yesterday showed an increase in vaccine distribution compared to the day before,” the governor said. “I expect this trend to continue with roads clearing throughout the state and our weekend vaccination catch-up.”

As of Saturday afternoon, an additional 7,388 doses were given, bringing the total number of vaccinations to almost 477,000, according to the Health Department. That’s about 70% of the total allocation received since Dec. 14 when the vaccination program began.

On Friday, just over 3,200 vaccinations were given, including first and second doses.

The governor retweeted an announcement from the state Health Department urging people to reach out to pharmacies to reschedule appointments, particularly those whose second shots had to be canceled.

“If this delays your second dose, there will still be time to get it,” the Health Department said. “Second doses can be administered up to six weeks after the first dose for both the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines.”

Active cases of the coronavirus also continued declining, with the Health Department reporting 6,078 statewide, a decrease of 400 from Friday.

Deaths from the virus increased by 12, bringing the total since the pandemic started in March to 5,348.

Hospitalizations also declined by 25 Saturday, to 605. Of those patients hospitalized, 103 were on ventilators.

Arkansas has recorded a total of 315,230 cases since the pandemic began, according to Health Department data.