Nov 2, 2022 - COVID

Arkansas sees low turnout for latest COVID boosters

Alex Golden

Illustration of a turtle carrying a vial of liquid — Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

About 4% of fully vaccinated people — those with the first two shots of Pfizer, Moderna or Novavax or a single shot of Johnson & Johnson — in Arkansas have received the new bivalent booster shot.

Why it matters: The latest COVID booster is intended to be more effective at targeting the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of the Omicron variant, which makes up most cases of COVID-19 in the U.S.

Cases, hospitalizations and deaths tend to rise in the winter, and health officials recommend getting boosted to ward off the worst outcomes associated with COVID-19.

By the numbers: Nearly 1.68 million Arkansans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the state Department of Health. That's about 59% of the population ages 5 and older.

Department spokesperson Danyelle McNeill told Axios on Tuesday that 68,553 Arkansans had received the bivalent booster.

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Arkansas sees low turnout for latest COVID boosters

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