Arkansas moves up to top 10 in flu vaccine effort

LITTLE ROCK, AR – Arkansas had the largest increase in overall flu vaccine coverage of any state in the U.S. from 2010 to 2011. Arkansas’s ranking improved from 27th to 10th in the U.S. for the year, according to a report by the National Immunization Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For the 2011-12 season, the state’s flu immunization rates were 46.6 percent of Arkansas’s population over six months of age, up from 44.2% the year before. The rate comes from the combined effort of the state’s public flu clinics and school clinics, along with vaccines given at local health units, private providers and pharmacies, as well as other agency and private efforts.

The funding for vaccine comes primarily from $2.9 million in state tobacco tax funding and $1.8 million in Vaccines for Children grants to pharmacies and private providers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Arkansas Department of Health will conduct 1,354 clinics this year, most targeting schools, daycares, pregnant women, and people who cannot pay.

According to Randy Lee, ADH director of Local Public Health, the department hopes to remain on track to maintain the state’s high ranking.

“Our goal is to provide 260,000 immunizations this year at ADH. I know that it takes everyone working together each flu season to pull this off. It really is an all hands on deck situation and it is working,” Lee said.