Gov. Justice continues urging boosters: "We control our destiny."

Statement

During Friday's briefing, Gov. Justice yet again encouraged all West Virginians to determine if they qualify for a booster dose and then immediately get one if they are eligible.

"Even as our numbers continue to fall, as sad as it may be, we're still going to lose a bunch more people, and it's a shame because we are in control of this," Gov. Justice said. "We just need to get ourselves vaccinated.

"We control our destiny."

After reading 110 new deaths during his briefing, Gov. Justice noted that 92.2% of the West Virginians who have died from COVID-19 have been unvaccinated. However, he went on to say that there is an increasing percentage of people who were fully vaccinated with the first series of shots that are now in the hospital with COVID-19.

"Those of you that are out there that were fully vaccinated, your immune protection is depleting," Gov. Justice said. "If you're six months out from being fully vaccinated, especially if you're 65 and older, the amount of protection has probably drifted from 90-95% down to 15-30%.

"The only choice we've really got is to go get our booster shot, and it will ramp your protection back up," Gov. Justice continued.

There are now booster recommendations for all three available COVID-19 vaccines in the United States.

Per the latest CDC recommendations, individuals who received either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are eligible for a booster shot if it has been at least six months since they completed their initial series of shots and they fall into at least one of the following groups:
65 years and older
Age 18+ who live in long-term care settings
Age 18+ who have *underlying medical conditions
Age 18+ who work or live in high-risk settings
For individuals who received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, booster shots are also recommended for those who are 18 and older and who were vaccinated two or more months ago.

Per the CDC, eligible individuals now may choose which vaccine they receive as a booster dose. Some people may have a preference for the vaccine type that they originally received, and others may prefer to get a different booster. CDC's recommendations now allow for this type of mix and match dosing for booster shots.

Source