STATE PARKS, arena offer shots.

Harrison Murray will be 16 in July and was willing to wait until then to receive his covid-19 vaccinations. His mother, Suzanne, was less patient.

Harrison and his 13-yearold sister, Autumn, received their first Pfizer shots Saturday at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock. Their mother had already been vaccinated, but the Pfizer vaccine was authorized for children ages 12-15 just last week.

“We’re ready to go on vacation, and now we won’t have to worry,” Suzanne Murray said. “They’ve been in virtual school this year. Normally, it’s so crowded in [North Little Rock] schools, and I just didn’t see how they weren’t going to be at risk.”

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences held its third community vaccination clinic at the arena Saturday. The first two were April 10 and May 1, and there will likely be another one June 12. UAMS and the arena coordinated the events with Pulaski County, the cities of Sherwood and North Little Rock, Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield and the North Little Rock School District.

About 600 people went to the clinic May 1, but only about 300 showed up Saturday, said David Nelsen, one of the clinic’s coordinators and a UAMS associate professor of family and preventative medicine.

UAMS has started offering vaccinations to all patients and visitors to its campus via a walk-in clinic on the second floor of the outpatient center on weekdays, Nelsen said.

“There’s actually a small body of scientific evidence that says if I’ve got 100 people who don’t want to be vaccinated, probably 50 to 60% of those patients will be swayed by a discussion with

a health care professional about the effectiveness and the safety [of the vaccine],” he said.

Those who received shots at the arena were able to enter their names in raffles for free tickets to Magic Springs, Arkansas Travelers games, the Foreigner concert at the arena on Aug. 8 and the Banda MS concert there on Sept. 17. The arena also offered free posters advertising previous shows at the venue.

“We had one person today

who heard that Banda MS tickets were going to be given away, so they got the shot and brought their kids, because their kids wanted to sign up [for the tickets],” said Jana DeGeorge, the Simmons Bank Arena director of marketing.

Visitors to seven state parks were able to receive the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine Saturday, according to social media posts from the state Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism’s Arkansas State Parks division.

Devil’s Den, Lake Catherine, Lake Ouachita, Mammoth Spring, Mount Nebo, Pinnacle

Mountain and Crater of Diamonds state parks all offered vaccinations.

State parks have seen an increase in visitors throughout the pandemic as a socially distanced outdoor activity, said Melissa Whitfield, the parks department’s chief of communications.

“It’s been a popular way to enjoy recreation due to the pandemic, so we thought if there were a lot of people coming, it would be a great place to provide that opportunity if they haven’t been able to get vaccinated elsewhere,” Whitfield said.

The parks department will

offer vaccinations again next Saturday at Petit Jean State Park, Mississippi River State Park and DeGray Lake State Park Resort.

On Saturday, 8,710 doses of vaccine were administered statewide, according to data from the Arkansas Department of Health. The department reported 177 new covid-19 cases and no new active cases Saturday. A week earlier, there were 202 new cases and 47 active cases.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson noted the decrease in his daily Twitter statement and continued to encourage Arkansans to get vaccinated.

“There are a number of vaccine clinics throughout the state in the upcoming week, in addition to the regular vaccine providers at local pharmacies,” Hutchinson tweeted. “Find a location that’s convenient for you and get vaccinated.”

State Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said active cases rather than total cases are a better gauge of how Arkansas is dealing with the ongoing pandemic.

“We still have more than 2,000 active cases, and I’d pay attention to that because it tells us something about the people out there who are potentially

infectious,” Dillaha said. “We know that not everyone who has covid-19 gets diagnosed, so the true number of active cases is actually higher.”

Arkansas has seen a total of 340,040 cases of covid-19 since March 2020, according to Health Department data. Pulaski County had the most new cases Saturday with 28, Benton County had 19 and Saline County had 17.

187 Arkansans were hospitalized with covid-19 on Saturday, one fewer than Friday.

Five people died of covid on Saturday, totaling 5,816 deaths of the virus in Arkansas.