Office of the Governor

COVID-19 UPDATE: Gov. Justice: “It is so, so important for you to get your booster shots”

4/11/2022

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CHARLESTON, WV – Gov. Jim Justice and members of the West Virginia COVID-19 pandemic response leadership team held another news briefing today to update the public on the state’s latest pandemic response and vaccine distribution efforts.
CASE NUMBERS & VACCINE/BOOSTER INFO
On Monday, Gov. Justice reported that there are now just 321 active cases of COVID-19 statewide.

Over the past two-and-a-half months, total active cases have decreased by more than 98.5%.

COVID-19 Dashboard | Coronavirus.wv.gov

Since nearing peak capacity in early February, COVID-related hospitalizations in West Virginia are down 90.8%, ICU patients are down 85.8%, and patients on ventilators are down 88.4%.

An updated breakdown of the West Virginia County Alert Map is as follows:
Red (0) | Orange (0) | Gold (1) | Yellow (0) | Green (54)
Still, after reading the ages and locations of another six individuals who have passed away from COVID-19 since Thursday last week, and with the BA.2 Omicron subvariant of COVID-19 recently sparking a new wave of infections across the world and the United States, Gov. Justice continued to urge West Virginians to get vaccinated and boosted.

“The benefits of the vaccine are off the charts,” Gov. Justice said. “You could still get COVID. But the likelihood of you going to the hospital is really low, and the likelihood of – God forbid – dying is almost nil.

“It is so, so important for you to get your booster shots.”
All West Virginians ages 5 and older are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. After the primary series, first booster shots are recommended for those ages 12 and older.

Second booster shots have now been authorized by the FDA and recommended by the CDC for those ages 50 and over who are also at least four months removed from their first booster dose, as well as certain younger immunocompromised individuals ages 12 and older.

All West Virginians who qualify can immediately get this dose anywhere vaccines are available.

The state’s new COVID-19 Vaccination Due Date Calculator has been updated to determine whether people are eligible for a second booster dose.

Read more about vaccines at Vaccinate.wv.gov and at CDC.gov.
FIND A VACCINE NEAR YOU
COVID-19 RESOURCES
GOV. JUSTICE RECAPS BILL-SIGNING EVENT
Gov. Justice also took time out of his remarks on COVID-19 to announce that, just before the start of his briefing, he hosted an event to ceremonially sign into law two bills designed to improve West Virginians’ lives in various ways.

House Bill 4276 will permit West Virginia University to create a Parkinson’s disease registry. This is a collaborative effort between WVU, the West Virginia Parkinson’s Support Group, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation to give researchers more data to better understand how many people have Parkinson’s and how they can better direct their efforts in order to find a cure or better therapies. West Virginia will be the first state to collect identical data identified by national researchers as what they need to advance their search for a cure.

“This registry is going to enable us to have more data that is going to make a big difference,” Gov. Justice said. “We want West Virginia to be the first state to come up with a cure for this terrible disease.”

The Governor also announced that he has issued a proclamation, officially declaring April as Parkinson’s Awareness Month in West Virginia.
House Bill 4497 – a Governor’s bill – will extend the current West Virginia jail per diem rate through June 30, 2023. The per diem rate has been capped at $48.25 since 2018.

“I was also proud to sign this bill today,” Gov. Justice said. “Our counties work very hard and our jail system is good. So we need to support them in every way we can. This is good stuff.”
GOVERNOR OFFERS PRAYERS FOR INJURED WYOMING COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTY
Gov. Justice also called on all West Virginians to join him in praying for the speedy recovery of a law enforcement officer who was badly injured over the weekend.

Deputy Tyler Phillips with the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office was on scene where an SUV was stuck in a ditch in the early morning hours Sunday.

As the SUV was being pulled out of the ditch, it struck the truck that was pulling it out, before making an unexpected turn toward Deputy Phillips, pinning him against a nearby tree.

Deputy Phillips suffered a severe injury to his leg. He is currently in the hospital and faces a long road to recovery.

“Tyler needs your prayers right now. We hope and pray that he’ll get through this,” Gov. Justice said. “We also pray for all the great men and women who do the brave work of law enforcement in Wyoming County and all throughout our state every day.

“We should always know and respect how important these great people are,” Gov. Justice continued. “They always run to the fire, don’t they? They’re always the ones we call when we're in trouble. They’re always the ones that step up.”
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Contact Information

Jordan Damron, jordan.l.damron@wv.gov

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