COVID-19 UPDATE: Gov. Justice continues to urge all eligible West Virginians to get vaccinated, touts "astounding" success of vaccines

Press Release

Gov. Jim Justice joined West Virginia health leaders and other officials today for his latest daily press briefing regarding the State's COVID-19 response.
GOVERNOR, STATE MEDICAL EXPERTS CONTINUE TO ENCOURAGE ALL ELIGIBLE WEST VIRGINIANS TO GET VACCINATED
During Friday's briefing, Gov. Justice and state medical experts once again took time to encourage all West Virginians who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine choose to be vaccinated as soon as possible.

"Of all the vaccines that we've ever done throughout time, all the different things that we have come up with over the years, there's almost nothing that protects you as well as the COVID-19 vaccine does," Gov. Justice said. "The numbers are in and the numbers are astounding, in terms of how safe these vaccines have been. They are astounding in terms of the success ratios; how well these vaccines have performed."

During his remarks Friday, State Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh explained that, according to the latest CDC data, of the 77 million Americans who have opted to be vaccinated to date, only 5,800 so-called "breakthrough cases" -- where an individual contracts COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated -- have been identified. Of those 5,800 cases, 396 people required hospitalization. Only 74 individuals have died out of the 77 million who have received the vaccine; a fatality rate of 0.0001% compared to an overall case fatality rate of about 1.8% for all COVID-19 cases nationwide, according to Dr. Marsh.

"As we look at the impact of these vaccines in real-world situations, we know that these vaccines are incredibly effective and incredibly safe," Dr. Marsh said. "As we look at West Virginia and we see that our use of the vaccine has gone down a little bit, it is really a signal to all of us that it is really important for us to step up and decide to be vaccinated to protect yourself, to protect each other, and to protect our state.

"We know that our strongest age group of spread is the 10-19-year-old age group; young West Virginians. So we really want to call on families and parents of young people to get vaccinated," Dr. Marsh continued. "It will allow you to safely play sports and have your activities. If somebody on a sports team gets infected, then people that are fully vaccinated don't have to quarantine. And for all of us, with our families, we want to make sure that we can spend time together, and the way to make sure it's the safest is for all of us to be vaccinated."

FIRST CASE OF BRAZILIAN VARIANT DETECTED IN WEST VIRGINIA
Additionally Friday, Gov. Justice and state health officials announced that West Virginia has detected its first case of the Brazilian variant of COVID-19 in Berkeley County.

"This is just another reminder to please stay on your guard, West Virginia," Gov. Justice said. "Get vaccinated, wear your masks, and do all the stuff you need to do to stay safe."

DHHR officials reported that, to date, 497 cases of this variant have been identified across 31 states throughout the country.

"We have now seen several of the variants in West Virginia," said State Health Officer Dr. Ayne Amjad. "The best ways for us to address these issues are for us to continue to wear our masks when we are in crowded spaces or social gatherings, and also to get the vaccine when it's our turn to do so."

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