Gov. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., said Sunday that independent pharmacies do a better job than major chains in administrating inoculations at Arkansas’ nursing homes.
In an interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Hutchinson said 60% of his state’s nursing homes opted out of delivery by the federally contracted Walgreens and CVS chains, and chose instead independent pharmacies.
“They're doing a better job of getting it out than the chain pharmacies,” he said of independent drug stores. “They're acting with more urgency. That's an example I've learned. When you look at the challenges with a specific population, what it is going to be like when we move to essential workers and whenever we move to the general population, we're going to have to utilize more resources to get this out than we've got planned right now.”
Hutchinson said Arkansas may follow other states and lower the federal cutoff for age priority to 70 for the inoculation.
“The reason [the government] allocate 75 and up first because there is a limited supply,” he said. “And it might be easier to know exactly who you're distributing it to. But the 70 and up population we're looking at, we're trying to save lives, getting to the most vulnerable first. We're still looking at that whether that should be lowered. That decision will be forthcoming.”
The governor also dismissed 11 Senators’ expected challenge of Electoral College votes.
“I think it is a little bit [like] Don Quixote jousting at windmills,” he said.
“It certainly will fail. Joe Biden is our President-elect and he will be confirmed in that capacity,” he said. “From a state perspective, the challenges have been initiated through recounts and court challenges, and that's how we work in our Electoral College, state by state. So when it gets to Congress, it is really a limited opportunity to review the intricacies of the election process.
“We should have confidence in what has been done and the reviews and the recounts. And let's all recognize that while the system is not perfect, it worked state by state, and we should accept those results and move on to do some good things for our country.”
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