Arkansas guv says urgent message remains ‘get vaccinated’

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — As Arkansas works to boost its low COVID-19 vaccination rates, Gov. Asa Hutchinson continued to ask his state’s residents to help blunt the spread of the coronavirus by getting inoculated.

Arkansas has one of the nation’s slowest vaccination rates. About 12% of the state’s population had been fully vaccinated as of Saturday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 25% of Arkansas’ population has received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“Last year, the urgent COVID message was ‘wear a mask,‘” Hutchinson said Saturday in a tweet. “Masks remain important, but today’s urgent message is ‘get vaccinated’ ... but if we are going to win, we must increase the count. Roll up your sleeve for Arkansas!’”

Coronavirus cases have continued to drop in recent weeks in the state.

Over the past two weeks, the rolling average of daily new cases has lessened by 121, a decrease of 39.2%, according to data on Sunday from Johns Hopkins University.