Office of the Governor > News > Press Releases > 2021 Press Releases > COVID-19 UPDATE: Gov. Justice announces West Virginia to partner with more pharmacies, receive another increase in vaccine supply

COVID-19 UPDATE: Gov. Justice announces West Virginia to partner with more pharmacies, receive another increase in vaccine supply

3/8/2021

CHARLESTON, WV – 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.

VACCINE DISTRIBUTION UPDATE: VACCINE SUPPLY TO INCREASE AGAIN THROUGH EXPANDED FEDERAL PHARMACY PARTNERSHIP During Monday’s briefing, Gov. Justice announced that, this week, West Virginia will expand its Federal Pharmacy Partnership to include the Medicine Shoppe/Leader Network of pharmacies. As a result of the partnership, West Virginia pandemic response leaders expect an initial weekly allocation of approximately 5,000 additional doses to be delivered to 59 pharmacy locations across the state. “It will be similar to the rollout with Walgreens where doses go directly from the federal government to pharmacies,” said West Virginia Joint Interagency Task Force Director Jim Hoyer. “But we in the Joint Interagency Task Force will work with those pharmacies to identify the appropriate individuals to receive the vaccines and those pharmacies have the ability to call those individuals directly.”

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Gov. Justice went on to report that West Virginia remains among the national leaders in the rate of COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration. As of Monday morning, 12.1 percent of West Virginia's entire population has received both doses of the vaccines; a rate so high that, if West Virginia were its own country, it would rank as the 12th-best rate of any nation in the world. West Virginia has successfully administered 558,534 doses after receiving a total allotment of 583,230 doses from the federal government to date; an overall administration rate of 95.8%. West Virginia currently boasts a first dose administration rate of 98.5% and a second dose administration rate of 91.8%. First doses: 340,942 administered / 346,100 allotted Second doses: 217,592 administered / 237,130 allotted West Virginia COVID-19 Dashboard (Click “Vaccine Summary” tab)

Gov. Justice once again encouraged all West Virginians age 16 and older desiring to be vaccinated to pre-register at vaccinate.wv.gov or by calling 1-833-734-0965. Vaccinations are currently available to all West Virginians age 50 and older, education workers age 40-50, and all West Virginians age 16 and older with certain pre-existing medical conditions.

West Virginians who are age 65 and older will continue to be prioritized first until all state residents in this age range who desire the vaccine have been vaccinated. To date, 195,821 West Virginians age 65 and older have chosen to be vaccinated, including 114,874 who are now fully vaccinated. Any West Virginians age 65 and older who are still waiting on an appointment are urged to call the West Virginia Vaccine Info Line: 1-833-734-0965 to ensure that they are scheduled to be vaccinated. The info line is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Free COVID-19 vaccination clinics will be held in all 55 counties across West Virginia once again this week through operation “Save Our Wisdom.” Each clinic location has its own, unique schedule. Names are being pulled from the West Virginia COVID-19 Vaccine Registration System to fill out appointments. All clinics require appointments and walk-ins will not be accepted. To date, more than 350,000 West Virginians have signed up to be added to the pre-registration list.

Vaccine supplies are limited, so pre-registration does not mean immediate access to vaccination. Pre-registration offers West Virginians the opportunity to receive real-time updates on vaccine availability and schedule an appointment when available as vaccine supplies allow. The vaccine registration system allows people to select their preferences for communication through text, email, or voicemail over regular phone lines. The Governor went on to say that increased emphasis on pre-registrations is needed in a handful of counties across the state, including Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Gilmer, Grant, McDowell, Pendleton, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Tucker, Tyler, Webster, Wirt, and Wyoming counties. The Governor urged West Virginians in these counties with friends and family age 65 and older to help these individuals get pre-registered.

GOV. JUSTICE REMINDS WEST VIRGINIANS OF LOOSENED RESTRICTIONS; URGES CONTINUED CAUTION Also today, Gov. Justice took time to remind West Virginians of his decision last week to once again loosen several COVID-19 restrictions, including lifting capacity restrictions on several types of West Virginia businesses, increasing the social gathering limit, and permitting more youth travel sports to take place. These changes include: Restaurant and Bar Capacity Limit Increased The capacity limit for all restaurants and bars has been increased to 100% of their seating capacity. This change applies only if social distancing can be maintained between groups that arrive and sit together. Bars may only increase capacity to the extent that they have physical seating for every patron. No standing room for people to congregate will be allowed. [Executive Order 8-21] Small Business, Retail Store, and Grocery Store Capacity Limit Increased All previous capacity limitations for small businesses, retail stores, and grocery stores have been lifted. Gym, Fitness Center, and Museum Capacity Limit Increased The capacity limit for all gyms, fitness centers, and museums has been increased to 100% of their normal capacity. Social Gathering Limit Increased The limit for all purely social gatherings has been increased to 100 individuals. The limitation does not apply to any activity, business, or entity that has been deemed essential, such as religious services, weddings, group meetings, conferences, or other special events held for essential businesses and operations. [EO 8-21] Youth Travel Sports Permitted In All Non-Red Counties All youth travel sports are permitted to take place, except for games, practices, or any other types of competition within counties designated as “Red” in the DHHR’s County Alert System map. This restriction on Red counties does not apply to teams that play in defined, relatively small geographic areas, such as within a single county or a few counties in the state of West Virginia. [EO 8-21] All of these updates require individuals and businesses to continue following all applicable safety guidelines including, but not limited to, mandatory face coverings and social distancing. Click here to view all guidance documents

These decisions were made after numerous discussions with members of the West Virginia pandemic response leadership team and other state leaders regarding the decreasing number of COVID-19 cases and the increasing number of vaccinated West Virginians. However, Gov. Justice pointed out today that, if numbers would begin to take a turn for the worse, some or all of these restrictions could potentially be reestablished. “I also want you to know that we are going to continue, in West Virginia, to wear our masks for a while,” Gov. Justice said. “I don’t like wearing it myself. But we all know that, if we don’t watch out and we move too quickly, we could have some level of whiplash come back on us and that would not be good.”

COVID-19 CASE NUMBERS UPDATE Additionally Monday, Gov. Justice reported that the current number of active cases in the state is now 5,613, down from 6,144 as of his previous COVID-19 briefing on Friday last week. The number of daily active cases in West Virginia has now decreased for 51 straight days and 55 of the past 56 days. West Virginia has experienced an 88% decrease in average daily deaths over the past seven weeks. The number of active hospitalizations is now 178, down from 200 on Friday last week. Of those currently hospitalized, 41 patients are in the ICU, down from 55 such patients on Friday last week. The cumulative percent of positive cases has decreased to 5.38%, down from 5.41% on Friday last week. Click here to view the latest COVID-19 data

MONDAY MAP UPDATE Also on Monday, Gov. Justice provided a look at West Virginia’s latest mid-week County Alert System map update. The map is updated live on the DHHR’s COVID-19 Dashboard (Click "County Alert System" tab) throughout the week. Red counties: 0 Orange counties: 6 Gold counties: 6 Yellow counties: 9 Green counties: 34

OUTBREAK REPORT Additionally Monday, Gov. Justice reported that there remains just one church-related outbreak in West Virginia. The outbreak is in Nicholas County and accounts for a total of four cases. There are now seven outbreaks in long-term care facilities across the state, down from nine such outbreaks as of the Governor’s previous press briefing on Friday last week. The Governor also reported that there are now 265 inmate cases across the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DCR) system, down from 278 on Friday last week. Meanwhile, there are now 11 active staff cases across the DCR system, up from nine on Friday last week. To view the latest DCR case update, click here.

AGGRESSIVE TESTING CONTINUES ACROSS STATE Also on Monday, Gov. Justice provided an overview of the 53 counties across the state that have free testing events scheduled through the Governor’s Aggressive Testing initiative.

This testing is available to all residents, including asymptomatic individuals. Proof of insurance is not required. Attendees should bring identification, such as a driver’s license or proof of address, to help in returning test results. Those under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. An interactive online map of all free testing locations across West Virginia is available online. Users can filter the map by type of testing site, including daily testing events, recurring testing events, as well as Walgreens and Fruth Pharmacy testing locations. Users can also filter by county. Each location is marked on the map with a pin. After finding a testing location nearby, users are able to click on the pin for more information about that particular testing site, including the specific location and timeframe during which testing will be held. Click here to view all locations, dates, times, and more details

GOV. JUSTICE PREVIEWS FIFTH VIRTUAL TOWN HALL ON PLAN TO REPEAL STATE INCOME TAX Additionally Monday, Gov. Justice took time out of his remarks on COVID-19 to announce that he will soon hold his fifth virtual town hall on his Personal Income Tax Repeal Plan to answer West Virginians’ questions about the plan. “The program that we have put together is going to put more money in your pocket, no matter who you are,” Gov. Justice said. “The people that were struggling the most – we gave them a rebate check. If you don’t want the cash, and you want to stick your head in the sand, then I can’t help you. But, if you want more cash in your pocket, this personal income tax elimination plan will do that for every single West Virginian across the board.  “And do you know what else it’s going to do? It will bring you opportunity like you can’t imagine,” Gov. Justice continued. “If you want opportunity in West Virginia to see wages be raised, to see your home values go up, to see more people moving into West Virginia – bringing jobs and bringing opportunities with them – this is what we’ve got to do, and you’ve got to help me out for us to be able to get there.”

The date and time of the next virtual town hall event will be announced in the coming days.

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A QUESTION

All West Virginians are encouraged to watch the live stream of the virtual town hall on the Governor’s social media accounts: YouTube | Twitter | Facebook You can also submit a question and watch all of the Governor’s previous virtual town halls on the Governor’s website.

Last week, Gov. Justice announced that he had officially submitted his bill on his Personal Income Tax Repeal Plan to the West Virginia Legislature. The bill is designed to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform West Virginia’s tax structure; raising wages, raising home values, bringing in more businesses, more people, and making life better for all West Virginians.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Click here to view all Executive Orders and other actions taken by Gov. Justice to combat the spread of COVID-19 in West Virginia. For more information about COVID-19 prevention and more, call the State’s toll-free hotline at 1-800-887-4304 or visit Coronavirus.wv.gov.

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