Unmasked edition: News from around our 50 states
From USA TODAY Network and wire reports
Alabama
Mobile: A Carnival cruise ship docked in the port city Friday so crew members could be vaccinated against COVID-19. With a brass band playing on the wharf, the Carnival Sensation docked at the Mobile Cruise Terminal, where staff members from USA Health planned to go on board to provide first doses for 110 crew members. The ship will return in three weeks for second doses, the city said in a statement. U.S. ports are closed to cruise lines because of the global pandemic, but Mayor Sandy Stimpson said such vaccinations are a major step toward getting the industry back in business. Carnival said crew members have received vaccines at other ports including Miami and Port Canaveral in Florida and Galveston, Texas. Sensation will be based in Mobile offering trips to the western Caribbean once cruises resume, but it’s unclear when that will happen.
Guatemala, Arkansas National Guard partnership growing together Photo By Zachary Lehr | ROBINSON MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, N. Little Rock, Ark.: Scott Bass (left), Deputy.. read moreread more Photo By Zachary Lehr | ROBINSON MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, N. Little Rock, Ark.: Scott Bass (left), Deputy Director, Response and Recovery at the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management (ADEM), and Col. Derald Neubauer, the Arkansas National Guard Director of Military Support, brief members of the Guatemalan Chief of Defense team, Thursday, May 13, 2021, about thier organizations roles and responsibilities during statewide emergencies and crises during their visit to the Joint Operations Center at Robinson Maneuver Training Center in North Little Rock, Ark. Arkansas and Guatemala, paired together since 2002 in National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program, have a long, rich history
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) The Arkansas National Guard has ended its work at a warehouse in North Little Rock where it helped distribute personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic.
. NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. The Arkansas National Guard has ended its work at a warehouse in North Little Rock where it helped distribute personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic. The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management requested closure of the warehouse operations mission as PPE has become more commercially available and the workload more manageable for warehouse staff, according to a Friday news release from the Guard. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that state officials said emergency management staff will send PPE to health care providers as needed. Four to six National Guard members have assisted in PPE distribution at the warehouse since April 2020. The four that were on site returned to their unit on Friday.
U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) is encouraging Arkansans to get
Shots In ARms as he highlights and discusses vaccine distribution efforts in the Natural State this week.
“I hope every Arkansan who is eligible to receive a vaccine will get one,”
Boozman said. “This is important for the health of every resident and the eagerness we all share to return to normal as quickly as possible.”
This morning, Boozman will meet with Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) Dr. José Romero and Arkansas Division of Emergency Management (ADEM) Director AJ Gary to tour a vaccine receiving area in central Arkansas. Later, he will sit down with Arkansas Department of Education Secretary Johnny Key to discuss how vaccine distribution is going for teachers and how students are doing in this pandemic school year.