Active cases start to decline

Saturday, January 23, 2021

In the Jan. 20 COVID-19 report, Blytheville Mayor James Sanders reported 197 active cases in Mississippi County, down from 261 in the previous week.

At press time Friday, there were 210 active cases in the county and 4,992 total cases, with 103 reported deaths.

On Jan. 20, Sanders also reported surrounding counties such as Craighead, Crittenden, Greene and Poinsett have seen reductions in the amount of active cases as well.

Despite active case lowering in Mississippi County and surrounding areas, Sanders as well as other local officials continued to push for caution and support of the vaccines.

Sanders also noted that the new strain has been identified in other states and could possibly reach Arkansas.

Sanders said Dr. Romero, the secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health, reported that eight specimens were sent to the CDC for testing to identify this new Covid strain.

“If they’ve sent eight specimens, then that means there’s potential that it may be in Arkansas,” Sanders said. “My comment to everyone is to treat it like it is. It’s been said that this strain is 50-70 percent more transmittable.”

In previous reports Mississippi County health officer Dr. Andrews Pirtle said there’s been no evidence that the current vaccines aren’t effective against this new strain as well.

Jeremy Jackson with Delta Drug in Manila also reported that approximately 250 vaccines were administered in Manila by Jan. 20 and he expected around 400 to be done by the end of the week.

While still in Phase 1-B, he also stated that anyone 70 and above is eligible to receive the vaccine with a scheduled appointment. Pharmacies administering the vaccines in the area include Southern Pharmacy in Leachville, Rose Pharmacy in Blytheville and Delta Drug in Manila.

However, Jackson said he expects there to be some “potential supply problems” with the vaccine.

“We’re already beginning to see orders that we thought we were going to get, that we either aren’t getting at all or they are less than what we planned on receiving,” Jackson said. “It’s going to take some patience on everyone’s part to know that we’re working as quickly as we can with the inventory that we have.”

Jackson also warned against some possible misleading information for the county concerning the number of vaccines given versus the number that’s been distributed in the state.

“There hasn’t been a time yet where it’s just sitting idle in my freezer without doing anything with it. Just know that if we have the inventory in our hands, it’s being utilized. We’re definitely getting it out as fast as we can.

“Those numbers do not reflect what we’re doing in Mississippi County because we are well above where the state is trending at this point,” Jackson continued.