MORGANTOWN — “The vaccine will protect us from this virus and save lives,” Gov. Jim Justice said. “There’s no question.”
There does remain a question, however, of exactly when.
During his Friday briefing, Justice laid out the state’s two-phase vaccine distribution plan, which, he reiterated, could see vaccination of the general population ramping up by mid-March — depending on supply.
Phase 1 will be broken into four groups, A, B,C and D. Those will include:
- Phase 1A — Health care employees in acute care units; nursing home staff and residents; pharmacy employees
- Phase 1B — Individuals responsible for community infrastructure; public health officials and first responders (fire, police, 911 centers, emergency management, corrections officers, ambulance crews, health departments, dentistry and National Guard members on COVID-19 support
- Phase 1C — Remaining hospital staff, clinics and other medical facilities with higher risk settings. This phase also includes home health/hopsice workers as well as child protective services.
- Phase 1D — Higher education faculty and staff and K-12 faculty and staff; other sectors for critical services to the state, including government, associations, utilities and transportation.
- Phase 2 — General population
Justice noted that Pfizer’s vaccine went before the Food and Drug Administration’s advisory board on Thursday, but had not received emergency use authorization as of the briefing. Moderna’s vaccine will go before the board on Tuesday.
“We have been told that within 24 hours of approval, the federal government will begin distributing vaccines to all the states. Once West Virginia receives the vaccine, we will begin distribution within 24 hours,” he said, adding that projections indicate the state will get through Phase 1 within six weeks once administration begins — again, based on availability.
Once on to Phase 2, the state will follow Center for Disease Control guidelines to put the older and more vulnerable at the front of the line.
COVID Czar Clay Marsh once again assured West Virginians that the vaccines are safe. He opened his remarks by noting Thursday had the highest single-day death toll in America since the pandemic began.
“It is really, really effective. We know 95% of people who got this vaccine, or got the Moderna vaccine, which the two are made almost the same, were protected against getting COVID-19,” he said, noting daily new cases are approaching 200,000 nationwide and 1,000 in West Virginia.
“Take the vaccine,” he said.
Marsh once again pointed out that the vaccine cannot give you COVID-19. He also refuted rumors that the vaccine can lead to sterility in women.
While there may be mild side effects, including pain at the injection site and a general malaise, particularly after the second dose, Marsh said the only serious threat being studied would be to individuals who carry epinephrine for life-threatening allergies.
“We would recommend that people who have to carry epinephrine pens and have life-threatening allergic responses would talk to their doctors before they get immunized,” he said. “Otherwise, these vaccines are amazingly safe.”
