MORGANTOWN — “Beat 588 … Bad” has transformed from a slogan jotted on a piece of notebook paper Wednesday to a full-blown program to try to get the vaccine holdouts vaccinated.
Gov. Jim Justice announced the program during Friday’s COVID-19 briefing. He explained the reasoning but details remain to be unfolded.
The 588 is short for 588,000, representing the 40% of the state’s population eligible for the vaccine who won’t get it, as discussed Wednesday. So far, 694,200 residents have had at least one dose while 543,654 have been fully vaccinated.
But there’s been a steady decline in turnout since the initial strong surge, when demand was outpacing supply — and now it’s just the opposite. Joint Interagency Task Force Director James Hoyer said Friday there are 180,000 doses in stock.
Justice said, “We have hit a wall … It’s time for West Virginia to move again.”
Beat 588 … Bad begins today, Justice said, and over the next 24 hours he’s calling on his team to cook up and bring to him a variety of ideas to win over and bring vaccine access to three key groups: those who want it but are finding it inconvenient to get it, kids 16 and up, and those who are hesitant or refusing.
“We don’t want the body bags to be the motivation for us to go do this,” Justice said.
Beat 588 … Bad will be part-public relations campaign, Justice said, and part finding ways to bring vaccine clinics closer to the people — to fairs and festivals, sports games, Walmart lots, even driving a van up “Hoo Hoo Holler” if need be.
Hoyer said there are plans to partner with businesses in downtown Charleston to offer vaccines for employees and customers.
As part of the program, they plan to ask the CDC to provide smaller vaccine vials containing fewer doses so there’s less waste — since the six-dose Pfizer vials have to be used within six hours of opening.
As always, part of the briefing was devoted to urging people to get vaccinated. COVID-19 Czar Dr. Clay Marsh again emphasized the need for teens to get it, as the variants spread and affect kids more.
With the variants in play, the United Kingdom has seen a 311% increase in kids being hospitalized, and the U.S. is seeing 12% of kids who get COVID requiring hospitalization. Five U.S. hospital systems have set up long-term management clinics for children with long-term complications, he said.
Marsh also cited a multinational study on pregnant women. Un-vaccinated pregnant women saw their risk of death rise by 11 times, risk of premature delivery rose by 97%, and risk of pregnancy complications rose 6-to-8 times. “COVID vaccine is very safe for pregnant women,” Marsh said.
For those who fear the vaccine, Marsh pointed out that 2,813 West Virginians have died from COVID; only three of those had been fully vaccinated. Nationally, 77 million have been vaccinated and only 74 of them have died. The current U.S. death toll is 570,611. So overall, the vaccine works and is safe, he said.
The Dominion Post asked about the leadership team’s goals for getting the masks off and considering the pandemic behind us. We reminded them Marsh previously said herd immunity comes in when about 70% to 75% of everyone is immune, and that state borders are very porous legal fictions.
They didn’t exactly answer that, but offered some other thoughts.
Justice said that about 20% of the people who visit state campgrounds may not be West Virginians, and maybe if they want a vaccine they should get one here.
Marsh said West Virginia has been a national leader since the pandemic — in nursing-home testing and vaccinating, in unrolling a vaccine plan, and other areas.
“This is the new opportunity for us to lead,” he said. They will be examining a variety of approaches and strategies to bring the hesitant folks on board. “These vaccines are truly the only real solution for the pandemic that we’re in.”
If we miss the opportunity to get our residents vaccinated, we will also miss the opportunity to be a leader for the other states facing the same hesitancy, he said.
They won’t be discouraged if some strategies don’t work, he said.
“We have plenty of energy to attack this … in a way where we can really feel that at the end of this pandemic, at the end of our careers and perhaps even at the end of our lives, that we gave all that we could to save the life of every resident of our state.”
TWEET David Beard @dbeardtdp
EMAIL dbeard@dominionpost.com
