As the Delta variant fuels the surge of new COVID-19 cases in Arkansas and hospitals reach capacity again, vaccinations continue to expire across the state.

Arkansas has 152,554 vaccine doses set to expire this month.

The state has 45,409 doses of Johnson & Johnson that expire on Aug. 18 and 11,741 doses of Moderna and 95,404 doses of Pfizer that expire on Aug. 31. 

Expired vaccines are considered medical waste and destroyed. However, the Arkansas Department of Health can hold on to expired doses in some cases in anticipation that the expiration date will be extended, according to Katie White, Deputy Director of Health Communications of the ADH. 

With the rise of delta variant cases in Arkansas, the ADH continues to advocate for more Arkansans to receive the vaccine with partners across the state. 

“Vaccines are readily available, and the ADH compiles vaccine and clinic locations on our website with information updated each week,” White said.

Clinics and hospitals can request additional vaccinations when needed with the amount received depending on the needs of the clinic or hospital.

“The health department utilizes the support of mobile vaccination teams and the Vaccination Strike Teams to support and provide vaccination clinics to defined targeted groups and populations affected by health inequity,” White said.

The teams assist the ADH in the state’s effort to ensure hard-to-reach populations have equal access to designated vaccination sites, according to White.

The vaccine efforts in Arkansas include targeted communications at the state and county level.

“We are working with ad agencies to develop a variety of messaging with local influencers across the state to encourage vaccinations,” White said. “These promotional materials are utilized in ad campaigns that cover every corner of the state.”  

The University of Central Arkansas Student Health Clinic received approximately 3500 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in April. 

The clinic administered roughly 2000 doses, and of the 3500 doses received, around 1500 doses expired on July 31. 

UCA Student Health Clinic Medical Director Dr. Randy Pastor reached out to the ADH six weeks before the vaccine’s expiration date in hopes that some of the remaining vaccines could be redistributed before expiring. 

“Due to the low vaccination rates in Arkansas, they were unable to find other locations for the vaccinations and they will be properly disposed of according to ADH protocol,” Pastor said. 

Approximately 400 more doses of the Pfizer vaccine were delivered by the ADH last week to the student health clinic with a later expiration date.

The student health clinic will continue to receive and administer the Pfizer vaccine throughout the upcoming fall semester.

The clinic is experiencing an increase in vaccinations, with more of the faculty, staff and students opting to get the Pfizer vaccine.

Jared Owen, a pharmacist at The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy located on College Avenue in Conway, has noticed an increase in calls for the vaccine in the last few weeks compared to most of the summer.

“I think vaccines slowed down partially because of summertime, and people thought the COVID cases were way down, and we reached a point where maybe it wasn’t coming back or wasn’t going to be as bad, and now, we have seen a pickup in the past couple weeks as cases started spiking,” Owen said.

The pharmacy is giving more vaccines now than it was a couple of weeks ago but still a lot less than when the vaccines were first available, according to Owen.

According to the Mayo Clinic, only 37% of Arkansans to date are fully vaccinated, with 48% having received at least one dose.

Governor Asa Hutchinson and ADH continue to advocate for Arkansans to get the vaccine.