As supply ramps up, demand for shots declines in some areas
Arkansas’ weekly allotment of coronavirus vaccines for people who have not yet received shots was set to increase by 32%, to more than 95,000 doses, as manufacturers continue to ramp up production.
The increase comes as providers in some parts of the state report the supply of vaccines exceeding demand by people who are eligible, with hundreds of appointment slots at some pharmacies and mass vaccination clinics going unfilled.
Meanwhile, the downward trend in Arkansas’ additional daily coronavirus cases continued on March 21, with the average daily rise over a rolling seven-day period dropping below 200 for the first time since May.
“We continue to see some of the lowest numbers we’ve seen since the early days of this pandemic,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a statement.
“This trend can continue if we all do our part. If it’s your turn, get vaccinated today for a healthier community.”
On March 24, the state’s case count rose by 231, a slightly smaller increase than the one the day before and 94 fewer than were added the previous Wednesday, March 17.
As a result, the average daily increase over seven days fell from 213 as of March 23 to 199 as of March 24.
Already at its lowest level since early June, the number of people hospitalized in the state fell by one, to 172.
The state’s death toll from the virus, as tracked by the Department of Health, rose by 13, to 5,560.
Much of the increase in the state’s weekly vaccine allotment will come from a greater number of doses of the single-shot vaccine from Johnson & Johnson.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Arkansas will receive 17,200 doses of that vaccine, up from the 3,400 it was allotted for this week.
The state will also receive enough doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech to provide initial shots to 49,140 people, an increase of 9,360 doses from this week’s allotment.
The state’s allocation of initial Moderna doses remained the same at 28,900.
Those doses don’t include ones going to Walmart and Community Enhanced Services Network Pharmacies as part of the federal retail pharmacy program.
Those stores received a total 38,350 initial doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines this week and 1,000 Johnson & Johnson doses.
State Epidemiologist Jennifer Dillaha said the increased supply going to the state’s program will allow it to provide doses to more medical clinics.
Demand falls
Just over a week after Hutchinson started Phase 1-C of the vaccination plan, some pharmacists continued to report waning demand for the shots.
At Smith Drug and Compounding in Hot Springs, owner Lance Smith said he can vaccinate about 250 people a day, but about half of his appointment slots are going unfilled.
He had hoped to provide initial Pfizer shots to 1,000 people at a mass clinic at a church Saturday, but only 250 people signed up.
He said he hoped some of the slowdown was from people traveling over spring break and that demand will pick up next week.
He said he’s also hoping Hutchinson will lift the eligibility criteria, making the shots available to all people 16 and older.
The start of Phase 1-C made the vaccines available to people 16-64 with health conditions putting them at risk of severe illness from the virus and to certain types of “essential workers,” including those with jobs in food service, transportation, the media and other industries.
Those eligible in this phase include prison and jail inmates and others living in “high-risk” settings, such as student housing and group homes.
Others who became eligible under previous phases include people 65 and older, health care workers, residents of longterm-care facilities and front-line essential workers, such as those in factories and grocery stores.
Leland Stice, owner of the Doctor’s Orders pharmacies in Pine Bluff, White Hall and Star City, said he filled the 150 appointment slots he had for a Johnson & Johnson vaccine clinic Wednesday morning, but 80 of the 400 slots he had for a Pfizer clinic went unfilled.
That was better than a typical day when only 70% to 75% of the available appointments for the clinics he holds in Pine Bluff have been taken.
Usually, when a new phase opens, “we see those clinics fill up real fast, and they haven’t been,” Stice said. “The younger group doesn’t seem to be as interested in getting the shot.”
Not all pharmacies were having trouble filling their appointment slots, however.
When Medical Arts Pharmacy in Fayetteville started taking appointments on its website two weeks ago, the available slots filled up within two hours, pharmacist Julie Stewart said.
Including booster shots, “our goal is to do 1,000 shots a week, and we’re exceeding that this week by a long-shot,” Stewart said.
Eric Crumbaugh, director of clinical business development for Little Rock pharmacy chain Express Rx, said demand was strong for the shots in Hot Springs, Hope and Prescott, but less so in Little Rock, where more providers are offering them.
At a weekly mass clinic at a church in southwest Little Rock, most of the 400 appointment slots were filled, and an additional 100 shots went to people without appointments.
On March 24, however, the company’s website showed dozens of available appointments for last week’s clinic.
Leslie Taylor, a spokeswoman for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, said the university has been filling up the available appointments at its vaccination clinic in Little Rock, but someone making an appointment could get in “in the next day or so.”
At its vaccination clinic in Jonesboro, St. Bernards Medical Center has been setting aside doses that it administers to walk-in patients for the past three weeks.
Hospital spokesman Mitchell Nail said that started because not all of the appointments were being filled but has continued as “a service that has been accepted well by the community.”
Hutchinson said March 23 that it’s still too early to make the shots available to all adults, saying people are still having difficulty getting appointments for the vaccines in some areas, including Northwest Arkansas.
In a letter March 22, U.S. Rep. Steve Womack of Rogers asked a federal official to increase the amount of vaccine going to that region, saying it was falling behind the rest of the state.
According to the Health Department’s online coronavirus dashboard, about 22.1% of residents age 16 and older in the Arkansas Hospital Association’s northwest region had received at least one vaccine dose as of March 24.
Statewide, 28.3% of residents age 16 and older had received at least one dose.
Doses reported
According to the Health Department, providers participating in the vaccination effort coordinated by the state had received 1,529,320 doses as of March 17, up 2,100 from the total as of a day earlier.
The doses those providers reported having administered, including booster shots, rose by 19,031, to 893,325.
In addition, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS and Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network pharmacies had been allotted 230,580 doses through federal programs, up by 1,000 from the total as of a day earlier.
The doses those businesses reported having administered rose by 3,604, to 108,094.
According to the CDC, the number of Arkansans who had received at least one vaccine dose rose March 24 by 13,575, to 694,124, representing about 23% of the state’s population.
The number who had been fully vaccinated rose by 7,392, to 357,343, or about 11.8% of the state’s population.
Among the states and District of Columbia, Arkansas moved from No. 43 to No. 42 in the percentage of its residents who had received at least one vaccine dose.
It remained at No. 46 in the percentage of its residents who had been fully vaccinated.
The decline in hospitalizations led UAMS Medical Center to return its 30-bed covid-19 unit to its former purpose: providing care for postsurgical and solid-organ transplant patients.
Taylor said the move was made after the number of patients dropped into the single digits for several days before rebounding to 12, including three who were in intensive care as of March 24.