MORGANTOWN — Gov. Jim Justice on Monday said he expects 16,575 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to be in West Virginia by the start of next week.
He explained that number will represent the first of two shots needed. The Pfizer vaccine requires a second dose after 21 days. The Moderna vaccine requires a second shot after 28 days.
“If you get the first shot, the federal government has guaranteed us that you will be getting the second shot,” Justice said.
Pfizer and Moderna are both seeking emergency use authorization from the FDA to distribute their vaccines. Pfizer will make its case for approval on Thursday. Moderna will likely follow suit in the next week or so.
The vaccine will be administered in phases as shipments come in. In Phase 1, health care workers will come first, followed by long-term care facility residents and staff, then community infrastructure and emergency response personnel, public health officials and first responders. This covers more than 100,000 people.
Justice said he’s hopeful production is able to ramp up as projected.
“I am very hopeful that if we continue to push like crazy and this thing continues to ramp up, ramp up, ramp up, that within the next two months, by March 15, I’m very hopeful that we will be in a situation at that point in time to be almost or there at being able to vaccinate anybody who wants to get the vaccine,” he said.
COVID-19 Czar Clay Marsh said West Virginians can be sure the vaccine is safe and will not give them COVID-19.
“The technology that’s being used, at least for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, are decades old, but continuously have been improved to the point now where they are really going to advance our ability to advance our vaccines quickly, not just for COVID-19, but for vaccines we’ll need in the future,” Marsh said. “These are really game-changing vaccines.”
Justice opened his briefing by asking West Virginians to remember the more than 2,300 service members killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Moments later, he listed 42 West Virginians lost to COVID-19 over the weekend, pushing the state’s total to 841 dead.
He noted there were 1,131 new positive cases identified in the previous 24 hours, bringing the state to just over 19,000 active cases. As of Dec. 6, there were 610 people hospitalized with COVID-19, and 176 of those were in intensive care.
Justice said Dec. 4 marked the highest one-day testing effort in the state thus far with 21,719 people receiving tests. He also noted the state’s color-coded map indicating county infection rates is all but entirely red.
Even so, Justice said he’s reluctant to start shutting business down without any evidence that it will do anything but put people out of work.
“We can’t show that anything we do is going to make any substantial difference other than wearing your mask,” Justice said.
He later added, “If you can’t identify something that’s really going to make difference. If you’re shooting in the dark a little bit and you can’t identify without any question this is going to make a real difference, and you shut down all indoor dining in 10 counties, what’s going to be the impact of that?
Justice mentioned that Tuesday, Dec. 8 is the funeral for Cassie Johnson, a Charleston Police officer shot and killed in the line of duty. Justice said he has ordered flags to be flown at half staff today at the capital and in Kanawha County.
“Cassie, you’ll surely be in our prayers, as well as all your loved ones,” he said.
Lastly, Justice announced a new 24/7 child crisis line at 844-435-7498 for any children struggling with addiction or mental health issues as well as assistance with parenting and behavioral issues.
