Arkansas seeing more than a 23% increase in COVID-19 vaccine supply – KNWA

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) The state has been receiving the largest sustained COVID-19 vaccine allocation increase since the vaccines first became available.

Col. Robert Ator, program manager for the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, says this week Arkansas COVID-19 vaccine allotment has increased more than 23%.

This weeks allocation is 95,240 doses, when you add in Walmart and our federal partners it comes out to be just under 115,000 coming into the state, says Ator.

Col. Ator says we have seen a 20% increase once before, however, it was due to the initial dump of Johnson and Johnson.

But it was short-lived, it was the big dump of Johnson and Johnson that we got two and half weeks ago, so this is the first long sustained big growth,adds Ator.

This sustained growth is coming from a number of places.We saw close to 10,000 additional doses of Pfizer this week, so between the J&J and Pfizer that is where that increase is coming from, says Ator.

When it comes to getting these additional vaccines into arms, Col. Ator says, more providers will be coming onboard.

Last week we brought on 31 doctors and clinics, and then this week we added another 10, and we are going to continue doing that, says Ator.

Col. Ator tells me along with helping get the additional vaccine out, he hopes adding all of these additional providers helps more individuals with underlying health conditions their shot in a more timely fashion.

See the original post:

Arkansas seeing more than a 23% increase in COVID-19 vaccine supply - KNWA