MORGANTOWN — While it’s still not enough, West Virginia will get extra vaccines next week.
Gov. Jim Justice said during his Wednesday COVID-19 briefing that he learned during a White House call that West Virginia will receive 20% more that its typical weekly allotment of 23,000.
The allotment will be about 2,500 to 3,000 doses, Justice said, as part of the federal plan to distribute 1 million doses to pharmacies across the nation, based on population.
Justice and Joint Interagency Task Force Director James Hoyer said that the extra doses won’t count against the state’s regular allotment. Hoyer added that he wants this federal allotment to be factored into the state distribution system, so records can be coordinated.
In a separate press release, Sen. Joe Manchin said he learned Tuesday that West Virginia will see a 1,500 dose increase in its weekly Moderna vaccine allocation, on top of a 3,700 dose increase announced last week.
Justice put the coming week’s total allotment at close to 30,000.
During press questions, The Dominion Post asked about what’s behind the vaccine shortage, saying many might wonder why more companies don’t jump in and help Pfizer and Moderna, and pointing out some reports that really only a small handful of companies have the capability of making these kind of vaccines.
COVID-19 Czar Clay Marsh expanded on that, saying there are very strict regulations for making pharmaceuticals, especially for vaccines. So the vaccines have to be produced in very strict environments, and early on there was a shortage of raw materials that also contributed to the current shortage.
But other companies’ vaccines are coming online — Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, to name two — he said, and Pfizer has now partnered with Sanofi, one of the few other companies with the capability, to expand its production.
So, Marsh said, he expects to see manufacturing increase in the next two to three weeks, and he expects the shortage to fill in quickly.
The question arose again about vaccine choice, as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine nears market entry.
Hoyer said they’ll continue to look at the data. But the J&J vaccine prevents death and reduces hospitalizations, so they’ll continue to see how they can focus that on a particular age category.
“It is a very important tool in our arsenal to get people vaccinated going forward,” he said.
Marsh added that because of the J&J vaccine’s better portability and single-shot dosage, it offers advantages in achieving the state’s goals.
“We will be very aggressive about using all vaccines,” he said.
And Justice said the feds and the state have no interest in using a subpar vaccine and won’t put one out that is subpar.
Also on the vaccine front, Justice passed along a warning issued by the Better Business Bureau: Don’t post your vaccination card online.
The bureau says scammers can capture that image and use it to produce phony cards to sell, or use it to spread your private information.
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