Gov. Justice Pleads with Younger Population to Get on Board with Vaccinations
By Chris Johnson on April 21, 2021 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice pleaded for the state's younger population to get on board with getting vaccinated during Wednesday's COVID-19 response press conference.
"We have reached the threshold where 2/3 of our 65 and over population has both shots and that is really great news," Justice said. "But we need to try and encourage our younger people to get vaccinated. We have a total eligible population of 1,470,000 state residents who are 16 or older. Of that number, 50.9 percent have received at least their first dose. We want to get to 70 percent. With our 65 and over population we are at 77 percent and want to get to 85.
"We have got to get our kids on board, we have got to get the 16-35 age group on board."
The state's coronavirus czar Dr. Clay Marsh said that our window to have people protected is upon us right now and the variants are different and targeting younger people.
Marsh said there are now 402 documentent cases of the UK variant in West Virginia. He added that as of now there is one documented case of the Brazilain varriant in West Virginia. Marsh said in Brazil right now, over half of the country's ICU cases are under the age of 30. He cited that example at how one of the variants is effecting younger people.
The state's current vaccination effort numbers are 687,045 state residents with at least one dose and 520,206 residents that are fully vaccinated. The state has received 1,352,250 total doses and 1,179,328 have been administered (87.2 percent).
"We have clearly hit a vaccination heistancy point," Retired Major General Jim Hoyer said. "We are prepared to go wherever we need to go to get people vaccinated."
Justice touched on a clarification he wanted to make in regard to his executive order on Monday. He said, masks are still expected to be worn but added that people who are actively engaged in indoor physical activity don't need to wear a mask.
Wednesday's press conference began with Justice offering his condolences to the families of the latest COVID-related deaths. There have been 15 since the governor's last press conference on Monday, bringing the state's total to 2,800.
"I'll ask your for your prayers," Justice said. "Please don't let them ever feel alone."
There have been 426 new cases reported during the previous 24 hours. The state's cumulative percent positive rate is now at 5.20 and the daily percent positive rate is at 3.83.
Active cases are at 7,293 and there have been 139,795 recoveries. Hospitalizations are at 249 with 79 in ICUs.
On the daily alert system map, there are two red counties (Berkeley and Raleigh). Harrison County has moved up to gold.
Justice said there are currently 11 outbreaks in long-term care facilities, four church outbreaks in five different counties. In correctional facilities there are 102 cases among inmates and nine among staff. Thirty-two of the inmate cases are at the Salem Correctional Center.
More information on the vaccine, including pre-registration instructions can be found HERE
More information on free COVID-19 testing can be found HERE
Video of Wednesday's press conference can be found below.
