Arkansas will open covid-19 vaccinations up to people age 12 and older, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Tuesday morning.
Currently, all Arkansans age 16 and older are eligible for the vaccine.
On Monday, U.S. regulators expanded the use of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to children as young as 12.
Hutchinson made the announcement at a charter school conference in downtown Little Rock. He referenced U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci’s statement that restrictions could be relaxed in the next year if people get vaccinated.
“We do not have mandates, but we have an urgent need,” he said.
He said afterward that the state would follow the direction of the Food and Drug Administration and that he would provide more details at his 1:30 p.m. news conference.
The Republican governor reiterated that it is his goal to get the vaccine into the arms of half of all Arkansans, which is about 1.5 million people.
Read Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.