Thank you for joining me for today's weekly COVID-19 update. I'm joined by Dr. Jose Romero of our secretary Department of Health, as well as Colonel Robert aider and then Secretary Johnny key. First, let me go quickly to our latest graphs so you can see the numbers. And then I want to talk about those a little bit and where we are in Arkansas. And so first, you can see right in the middle, on the total cases, the change from yesterday, we have an increase of 229 cases of covid 19. And this compares to a week ago of about 198 new cases on the same day and obviously go down the weekend they go up during the week, more people are tested. The active cases are remaining fairly steady with an increase of 39. If you look up on the right side on the hospital data, you'll see that we've had a reduction in hospitals hospitalized by 13. Yesterday they were up, which was a Monday today they are down. And so we are encouraged by the fact that our hospitalizations still remain low. And then if you look at the three leading counties of Benton County, plasti and Washington County are the three counties with 20 plus new COVID cases. Good news, of course, is that our Department of Corrections we've had zero new cases I want to applaud Secretary Solomon graves and his team the Department of Corrections for really having a good immunisation program among the inmates and the staff. If you look at our testing, it's fairly consistent. It's at a low level, people who see a need they get tested or they come back from traveling. But that has been fairly consistent at that lower level. If you look at our vaccinations, we've had 15,000 doses given now you've got to remember that the 15,000 shots in arms we did over the last 24 hours. Many of those are second doses. And so you don't see the actual numbers go up as quickly as you would like. But we did get our 15,000 doses. We're continuing to receive doses from our allocation of 26,000. And then the total immunized either partially or fully immunized is 1,008,000. That's the number that we need to have go up in Arkansas. And then let me say a word about our j&j vaccine that went back in operation yesterday. If you go to the next graphic, we want to emphasize that we have vaccines available in Arkansas, the supply is not a problem. We have vaccines available right now. Pfizer, 358,000, materna 288,000, our inventory, and Janssen which is the j&j 70,000. And I was informed Colonel later that, that in my white house call today that we will be receiving an additional shipment of Janssen vaccine this week. And so that will increase those numbers. Vaccines are available for you. We need you to go to your doctor's office, go to a medical clinic, go to a pharmacy, wherever you feel most comfortable and make arrangements to get your shot. And then you'll see the locations in Arkansas and this is just on the Janssen vaccine that is available, you can see that it's available around the state. And of course, the other vaccines are available in those locations as well. So it's plentiful in terms of pharmacies, providers, and other federal entities as well that has access to it. And then I believe there's one more here, this is just to show
where we are in our trend line in Arkansas. And you can see that since March 8, we have been steady, not going up but steady week by week day by day. We watch that very carefully. And we do not want to be a Michigan we do not want to see an acceleration of those cases. And so we continue to either get vaccinated or take the precautions that to protect you from the spread of COVID-19. And then finally, this is the hospitalizations. You can see we've remained steady, they're a little bit down. It's hard to get it down from the numbers we are in now. I'd like to see it even down lower. I like to see our cases down lower. It's hard but we're not going up. And so with that before I turn it over Dr. Mehra, let me just emphasize a couple points. Obviously, we have a challenge with vaccine hesitancy. And I think that hesitancy in Arkansas is partly because of the threat is perceived as being down. As new cases go down, hospitalizations go down. As you see people relaxing and trying to lead a more normal life. You the thread is not with us every day. And so the urgency of getting a vaccine has been diminished. We want to, in a realistic way, continue to encourage people to get the vaccine as to how important it is. And so where do we go as a state and my conversations with Dr. Romero and Colonel, ater and the team. And we're going to utilize a broader group just to visualize and try to come up with unique ways to encourage people to get vaccine. We want to call upon our employers to provide leadership, they've done a good job, but we want you to continue in the fight. We want you to provide time off as necessary for an employee to get the vaccine. We want you to provide education to the workers as to the importance of it, and then give them access to it and either bring a clinic to your worksite for the easy vaccination of workers, or to give them opportunity to go to a local pharmacy and get to vaccination. We need employer leadership as we fight this battle. Secondly, we want to continue to rely upon physicians and our outpatient clinics, they have a growing supply of vaccines, they are a trusted provider, that's who the patient is used to going to. And we want, they will be there to guide whoever their patient is to the right place to get the vaccine. And then I've challenged the Department of Health and to make sure that the vaccine is accessible to harder to reach populations. And so that's part of our emphasis on equity, but it's also just simply what is going to take to get from 40% vaccination rate up to 60%. We've got to get it out there as easy as possible for people to get the vaccine. I'd like to see vaccine clinic made available at a travelers baseball game, I would like to see it at the malls that are available, I would like to see it more available to schools and challenge the secretary key to continue to encourage our schools to vaccinate 16 plus and soon it will be even down from their age wise, this is what we're going to have to do communities need to engage employers, physicians, the health health care industry, as well as our education to make the vaccine as accessible as possible, where they're going somewhere, oh, I can stop over here and get a vaccine. That's what we're gonna have to do. And we all need to pull together to increase these numbers. And then on the alert side of this so that we don't get too casual about our approach to COVID-19. I think Dr. Romero has some information to provide.
I want to come on here and the Secretary key would you come? I'm not gonna have you scare him, but I want you to tell him about what's going on.
Thank
you. Okay. Okay. All right. You are we are within just a few days of entering the last month of school. And I just again will say how proud I am of educators, administrators around the state of Arkansas for having a successful school year. We are right now continuing with our ICT Aspire assessment process. We are over 75% at this point of all the assessments that we expected to be given have been given. And so we are ahead of schedule there as well. We are seeing, again, a low number of cases in our schools. I think we have had just one school within the last week that had to shift to any type of modification of onsite instruction because of COVID exposure. But that is continued to be and we anticipate will continue to be low. We are having problems. All right. So I do want to encourage our districts that are having prom and graduation activities to continue their diligence. We want to finish this school year. As well as we have completed up to this point. And while some of the restrictions have been relaxed, we would encourage our districts to continue to keep those requirements or those admonitions in mind, as they have these year end activities, not just graduations, not just proms. But the activities that typically happen with our younger students as well, the assemblies, awards, programs and things of that nature, we encourage you to to stay safe, with all the precautions that the health department and the Department of Education have encouraged throughout the year.
Thank you, Governor, Thank you, Secretary for biting me some time. And forgive me for the coughing fit. I'm not sure why that happened. So as the governor said, I did want to bring some some information to your attention. And really the highlight why we need to become vaccinated and do it as soon as possible. So our number of isolates for variants has increased dramatically in the last week, particularly in the UK variant, we have had a three fold increase in the number of isolates. And our total isolates in the state have adult more than doubled. So these are here, as we had said, over and over again, they're becoming more prevalent in our ability to isolate them and find them. And this is only the tip of the iceberg because we're only sequencing a small, very, very small minority of the number of people that are sick. So it's here, we expect to see more. These isolates, especially the UK variant, we know is more transmissible, and is associated with more mortality and morbidity. We also know that in states where this is already a problem, we're seeing more children being hospitalized, and with severe disease than we had in the past. So again, we need to bring this under control. The more people that are anemia nysed, the more there is a chance for this virus to spread and to continue to mutate. So we could see newer variants if we have a large enough population of individuals not vaccinated. Next, I want to turn my attention to the Janssen vaccine. So as you all know, last week, the CDC Advisory Committee met to review the literature and the information on this these vaccines to see if they were still safe to use and and how to use them. So, a total of 15 cases of this clotting disorder with low platelets was identified. It was studied very carefully as to the incidence. And it was determined that the risk benefit ratio that is the benefit, as opposed to the risk far outweighs the use of the vaccine the adverse event this occurrence of clotting occurs so infrequently, rarely, very, very rarely that it is safe to use a vaccine. Now there are alternative vaccines for people that don't want to take that with risk. We in the health department will make that alternative vaccines about alternative vaccines available at sites where we're using the Janssen vaccine, but the Janssen vaccine is safe, it's effective. And it is a one time vaccine. So keep that in mind. And I encourage you all to get vaccinated with whatever vaccine you feel comfortable with. But please take advantage of that. Thank you very much.
With that be happy to take any questions,
you have a goal for the percentage of the state that you'd like to see vaccinated at a timeline for when you want to get there.
Of course, the epidemiologist the experts say would need to get to 70% or above to have herd immunity. It's going to be challenging for us to get there. In the short term. I think that's a longer term project to get there, which will probably go into the fall. We don't have a specific timeline other than as soon as possible. We want to urge everybody to get the vaccination. And since it's available, there's not any real reason we can't get to 70% level within a matter of three months. But that is all dependent upon the willingness of citizens of Arkansas to get the vaccination.
There was lower level testing, do you think that our Kansans are just not getting tested? Even if they are sick, especially with these variants that are now in the state?
Yes, well, no, I think that if if they're ill, they'll get tested. Sometimes if they get ill they just go into hospital because we've been around this enough. We know what the challenge is. But in the early days of the pandemic, and when we really started ramping up our testing, people were getting tested because they wanted to be assured that they did not have COVID. Or they might have traveled and a lot of different reasons, or they just want to know that they're safe. And so that gave us a higher number. And the longer we've lived with this COVID, the those level of concerns have diminished. And so I just don't see the same demand. And I think it's largely because they don't feel daily threatened by it. But they, they will go in and get tested, if they have a particular bad feeling or ill, or they have some other compelling reason to
615 on the vaccine path courts, by the legislature, you find it a sign that
the vaccine passport only applies to government? I believe that's correct. So I haven't in it prohibits the requirement for the somebody to be have be vaccine, in terms of travel. That's something I've generally been supportive of. So I will look at that. But I haven't made a final decision. So I haven't been on my desk a sufficient amount of time. We can go remotely. Are there any questions?
Are these people that were eligible for the vaccine and just didn't end up getting it?
I'm sorry, repeat that question.
The people that are being hospitalized right now, are these people that did not get the vaccine even though they were eligible?
Correct? Correct. You're looking at people who who have not received the vaccine, for whatever reason, and they're contracting COVID-19. And they're going to the hospital and they're putting themselves at risk, because they didn't get the vaccine. Dr. Merrill, do you have a comment on that?
So although we can't give you specifics as to the percentage that did not receive vaccine, we can tell you this, that the vaccine is 90% effective in preventing hospitalizations are better than death. And that breakthroughs that for individuals that receive the vaccine and then get sick are exceedingly low, it's far, far less than 1%. So these are individuals that have not received the vaccine, and are becoming infected and sick with with COVID.
Alright, my quick line at the table here,
I guess dueling new gun bills, Stubblefield as a 717 and 1957. Are you okay, with both bills, or I would
not sign off on both the bills. I leave it to the legislature, except we've got to have a bill that does not do harm. All the bills that are out there right now, are extreme and this expense, that they repudiate very portions of federal law. They send a very strong signal as to protection of our Second Amendment. But what I'm looking at is, are they doing harm to law enforcement and public safety? So, you know, obviously, the one that representative Wardlaw has worked on, has protections for law enforcement, and to make sure that we can continue the important public safety partnerships that we've had in the past that meets that criteria. But I want to leave it to the General Assembly to see whether they can get that passed and do no harm to law enforcement, which is my goal. Did I miss anybody else remotely? I think that one came in was that anything else?
Yes. Could have anything. It's Brett rains of 4029 News. Quickly your reaction to the announcement from the CDC today regarding face masks. Some people being allowed to not wear them when you're vaccinated. But then also, we know that there's always the people of sculpt the idea of being vaccinated and still being asked to wear a face mask when outdoors around other people. quickly address those two points, please.
Thank you. Well, there's in Arkansas, we've been ahead of the CDC guidelines and CDC what they announced today for outline for outdoors, not a requirement were met. We've done away with our mask mandate in Arkansas, which applies outdoors for over a month now. And, and so there's not any one that's outside that should be under requirement to wear a mask unless it's private property or a private business. And that's the property for the business to make that requirement. And so we're pretty clear in Arkansas, that we don't have a mask mandate. Some cities still do that are in place. And that's their prerogative. Currently, there's a law that would take that away from them. But we're on a different page than the CDC in terms of our requirements, in reference to mask which have been lifted in the state.
Any other questions? This is Josh?
Yes, sir. This is Josh Blackman, kpit and jonesborough. Yes, I just want to talk about you. You touched on some of the bills coming out of the legislature, if overarching? Are you happy with the kind of bills that are coming out? Because you've you've vetoed more than you have in previous years so far this year?
The answer is, I think we've had a very good session, how you look at the bills that have come out from raising teacher salary, to improving computer science education to increasing our surplus, we got a great budget that's been approved today. So absolutely, you know, the bills that are coming out of the legislature are moving our state forward. Now, there are some that create more controversy than others. I've stated that in various ways that we need to slow that down. We also I've expressed on three occasions, now a veto this session. So three vetoes out of probably over 1000 bills is not a bad batting percentage for the General Assembly. And I do appreciate them taking my veto seriously, and, and causing it to slow down and saying how can we do this better? Yes, ma'am. How hopeful
Are you that with the resuming the Johnson Johnson vaccine and bringing more of those doses into the state that it will cut down on the risk of our candidates not getting that second shot with with Pfizer? materna
Well, that's the beautiful thing about the Janssen or j&j vaccine is that it's one shot, one and done, as they say, and, and the pause was regretful in the sense that we had a number of advertising campaigns, the employers loved it, because, you know, the workers could take one shot, be safe, and it's effective, and, and they don't have to worry about that follow up. And then it's also so useful to our whether it's a homeless population or others that are harder to get to, that is the tool that was uniquely capable of reaching those. So I'm glad it's back. We want to make sure we push that vaccine out to those populations, cuz it will help us a great deal in getting those covered. So I'm optimistic about it. We just want everybody to feel safe and understand the availability of it.
Your push to try to get the vaccine into the harder reached parts of Arkansas, the rural areas, are you trying to push the Johnson and Johnson vaccine to those areas because they're hard to reach to begin with?
Well, we're doing it with and of course, the Madonna vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine are available in those communities as well. And so in every rural part of Arkansas, you do have access to really three vaccines. Now. There's, as you can see from the inventory, there's a greater supply an inventory of Pfizer and Madonna. And, but they will make up for the j&j vaccine very shortly. We're going to have some more come this week. But as soon as the Baltimore factory gets back online, I expect to have a large quantity of the j&j vaccine. So, you know, if you're a worker that's out there, they're asking for the Janssen vaccine because it is one shot it is it is finished. And so all three are available in the real communities. But from a department of health standpoint, we look at that Janssen vaccine as a uniquely capable to get into some of the hard to reach populations. And you you have anything else on that? No, so don't really need the document.
Very simply that the governor has it. Absolutely. Correct, we have about 70,000 doses that are in the state. We use the Janssen to hit our transitory populations, we have enough to last for a while to let the production pick back up. But there is a vaccine of all three types in every county in the state of Arkansas. And the reason why we do that is the unique storage requirements of the Pfizer, it makes it a little bit of a challenge in the more rural parts of the state. But we need that vaccine there to be able to get to that 16 and above population, and hopefully real soon that 12 and above population. So every county has all three types of vaccine in its in its in its borders,
more available in more places. In order to do that, you need to enroll more providers, or how are you going to accomplish that making it more available in more places? Well,
it's sort of outlined three, three points of emphasis that we want to concentrate upon, which is the employers, which is the physician and clinics, and which is the improving the access at venues in which people are going regularly for shopping or for entertainment. So we want to be creative, and all of those encourage our communities to be creative as well. I think that is the key for it. When I miss there, did you have covered? Are
you talking about increasing access? Is that within the health department is going to be doing or how are you going to increase the
access? Well, for example, right now in physician offices, we have about 40 that are providers in Arkansas that have access to it. Now, the challenge in a physician's office is that you might not be able to get out 100 doses in a week. And so Colonel aider is setting up a system where they can be supplied on a more regular basis, based upon the need that they have. So we have to improve their access, but also the efficiency of it to make sure the vaccines are not wasted, and has been pointed out, it's likely that some of those vaccines are going to be wasted. If a vial is opened up in a physician's office, you don't have six people lined up to take the vaccine. So we've got to be efficient about that. So we're working on that because we realize they're the most trusted provider, that people feel comfortable going to their physician listening to their advice and getting the vaccine there. I want to continue to emphasize the great work that the pharmacies are doing. They've been on the front line, they're going to continue to because people are used to go in their pharmacy, they have clinics, and they're really working hard to expand their ability to vaccinate those in the community. So all of these are critical partners for us as we try to push the access and the willingness to accept it. Alright, is there a final question?
Hey, Governor, this
is Andrew Epperson from K NWA news up in Fayetteville, Fayetteville city council tonight,
we'll look at a resolution reiterating the city support for trans citizens and visitors. And resolution is sponsored by the mayor and city attorney wrote a letter about this as well, you may have seen it. I was just wondering what your thoughts were on that. I haven't read the resolution. So if it's simply expressing support, well, obviously we want to support any part of our community. And they are part of our diversity. So I'd have to look at the specific language but that's sounds like something that any city ought to be able to express their support for if they wish to. With that, thank you for your attention to this today. And with that, Have a good afternoon.