Arkansas expands virus vaccine eligibility, drops mask mandate

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas will open up coronavirus vaccinations to anyone 16 and older, and is dropping its mask mandate immediately, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Tuesday.

Hutchinson announced the moves after the state saw virus cases and hospitalizations continue to decline in recent weeks. The state had previously made the vaccine available to people 65 and older as well as several other groups, including teachers, health care workers and food service employees.

“We want to make sure we maximize every opportunity to get this life-saving vaccine into the arms of Arkansans and to accelerate that to the extent that we can,” the Republican governor said at his weekly news briefing on the virus.

The move comes after the state saw slow demand for the vaccine, even as it has steadily opened up eligibility.

Hutchinson is lifting the mask mandate despite President Joe Biden urging states to reinstate or maintain such restrictions to stave off another surge of the virus.

Hutchinson last month lifted most of the state’s virus restrictions, including restaurant and bar capacity limits, and had said the mask mandate would expire at the end of March if the state met goals for test positivity and hospitalizations.

The governor said ending the statewide mask mandate won’t prevent businesses, including restaurants and hospitals, from enforcing their own mask rules and he said he expected most would continue requiring them.

“Please be respectful and mindful that while the mask mandate is lifted, there will be many that continue to wear it and many businesses will continue to require it,” he said.

Hutchinson said cities also can enforce their own mask requirements, reversing from his comments a week ago that local mandates would not be allowed.