Justice continues to urge COVID vaccination

Active cases up, hospitalizations down in West Virginia

CHARLESTON -- With another two dozen deaths attributed to COVID-19 since his last online briefing Monday, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice continued Thursday to urge people who have not been vaccinated or gotten booster shots to do so.

"None of us like the fact that we lost 7,230 people," he said, referring to the total fatalities since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. "We don't like to lose seven people."

Justice said the best defense against the virus remains vaccination, but he will respect someone's right to decide not to take it -- while continuing to try to change minds.

"I don't see people dropping dead right and left over the fact that they took the vaccine," he said, noting experts continue to say the vaccines are safe. "I don't see anybody growing antlers that are taking the vaccine."

The vaccines does not completely prevent transmission of the virus but have been shown to reduce the likelihood of severe illness, including hospitalization and death. But the protection wanes over time, which led to the recommendation of booster shots.

New combination versions of the vaccine that target the omicron variants of the virus are expected in the fall, but it's not clear when exactly they will be available or for whom they will be recommended, said Dr. Ayne Amjad, state health officer and commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health.

"That's one reason, because everything is unknown, that we are encouraging people not to wait for that specific one to come out," she said.

More than 1.1 million people in West Virginia have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, though the Pfizer and Moderna formulas require two doses to be considered fully vaccinated. According to the state's online COVID dashboard, 537,722 people have received a booster dose. A second booster is recommended for people age 50 and older.

The DHHR reported 2,842 active cases on Thursday, up from 2,731 on Wednesday. Cases have been going down since last week; however, state officials have previously said data can be affected by reporting lags.

Active cases in local counties Thursday (Wednesday) were: Calhoun 4 (4), Doddridge 9 (13), Gilmer 9 (6), Jackson 35 (26), Pleasants 2 (3), Ritchie 14 (14), Roane 19 (22), Tyler 9 (8), Wetzel 9 (8), Wirt 11 (9) and Wood 140 (135).

Three counties, Logan, Greenbrier and Hardy, were gold, mid-level, on Thursday on the County Alert System map that is based on infection rates or percentage of positive tests, whichever is lower. All other counties were green, lowest level, or yellow, second lowest.

In this region, Wetzel, Pleasants and Jackson counties are green.

Seven deaths were confirmed in Thursday's report, including a 70-year-old man in Jackson County. The state also reported the death of a 46-year-old man from Logan County.

Other confirmations were a 71-year-old woman from Raleigh County, an 84-year-old man from Putnam County, a 97-year-old man from Harrison County, an 81-year-old woman from Kanawha County and an 84-year-old woman from Kanawha County.

Hospitalizations dropped again from 376 on Wednesday to 350 on Thursday, the department said. Of the 350, 202 patients are considered unvaccinated, meaning they have not had the first or first two shots.

Fifty-three people are in an intensive care unit, 29 unvaccinated, and 15 are on a ventilator, seven unvaccinated.

Fourteen pediatric patients were reported with four in an ICU.

Fifty-five staff and 80 inmates have the virus as of Wednesday, the Division of Corrections said. Twenty-two are in the North Central Regional Jail in Doddridge County and two are in the St. Marys Correctional Center.

During the briefing, Amjad also provided an update on monkeypox in the state, noting there is one confirmed case and four probable cases awaiting confirmation by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state has received about 700 doses of a monkeypox vaccine and some have been distributed to local health departments, she said.

City Editor Jess Mancini contributed to this story.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.