During Tuesday’s briefing, Gov. Justice announced that more than 1 million West Virginians have now received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
To date, 1,005,135 West Virginians have received at least one dose of vaccine, while 836,954 West Virginians have been fully vaccinated.
“This is a huge milestone that we’ve hit,” Gov. Justice said. “You have done a whale of a job, West Virginia, and it’s because all of us have been pulling the rope together.”
“I congratulate everyone who has played a role in getting us to this point,” Gov. Justice said. “But we still have more work to do to get all of our residents vaccinated.”
The Governor went on to announce that, due to the success of statewide vaccination efforts – especially among residents ages 50 and older – surpassing the original goals established by medical experts, West Virginia’s COVID-19 pandemic response leadership team is establishing new vaccination goals for the state’s wisest populations.
These new goals include vaccinating at least 90% of all West Virginians ages 65 and older with at least one dose and vaccinating at least 85% of all West Virginians ages 50 and older with at least one dose.
“There’s a thing in athletics where you always want to raise the bar,” Gov. Justice said. “That’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Currently, 87.3% of West Virginians ages 65 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 79.4% of West Virginians ages 50 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
“At first, we hoped like crazy we could get to 70% of our 65 and older population,” Gov. Justice said. “Then, all of a sudden, 75% became attainable, then 80%, then even 85%. It’s unbelievable. No one would have thought originally that would have been possible.
“Now we need to keep going,” Gov. Justice continued.