Half of St. Francis County’s population partially vaccinated against Covid

Just over half of the St. Francis County residents who are eligible to receive a Covid vaccination have taken at least one shot.

The Centers for Disease Control reports 50.8% of the county’s residents have taken one dose of a vaccine, with 43.9% reported as fully vaccinated against the virus.

SFC’s virus death toll climbed to 66 this month, with one additional death reported over the past week.

The only other recent Covid death in the region was in Woodruff County, where 24 residents have died of virus complications. The CDC shows that in Woodruff County, 58.5% of the population is partially vaccinated, with 51.3% fully vaccinated, which is the only county in the region with over 50% of its population fully vaccinated.

The region’s death toll increased this month, mainly due to the Arkansas Department of Health correcting previous reports on virus deaths. That update added 68 Covid deaths among the seven counties in this region where, to date, 468 people have died from the virus.

The number of Covid cases in the region appears to be declining with only 587 new cases diagnosed so far this month. In August, doctors diagnosed 2,828 new Covid cases in the region, which decreased to 2,378 new cases being diagnosed in September.

Doctors diagnosed an additional 118 cases of the virus this month in St. Francis County, bringing the total number of Covid cases to 4,776 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The most new cases in the region this month have been reported in Crittenden County where 215 cases were added, bringing that county’s total to 8,731. Cross County has seen 103 new cases diagnosed this month, and 47 new cases have been reported in Lee County. Phillips County’s cases have increased by 69, and in Monroe County, an additional 16 cases have been diagnosed.

The region’s lowest vaccination rate is in Lee County where 29.2% of residents are fully vaccinated.