MORGANTOWN — West Virginians ages 16-35 who’ve been fully vaccinated can now sign up to receive their $100 “Beat 588 … Bad” incentive payment, Gov. Jim Justice said Thursday.
Go to governor.wv.gov to register, he said.
You’ll see the big “click here” link at the top of the page. Applicants can choose a payment card or a savings bond. The registration page says cards will be mailed once the application is approved. Those who want a savings bond must create a U.S. Treasury account and a link is provided.
Justice again estimated the total cost of the program at $20 million.
Justice also said the state is now ready for full reopening of all senior centers. The Bureau for Senior Services was expected to issue safety guidelines sometime Thursday.
Anyone who is un-vaccinated must still wear a mask inside the center, he said, which should serve as a motivator to get vaccinated. “Anyone who has not been fully vaccinated is still going to have to put up with that crazy mask, and that terrible mask.”
There were 5,892 active COVID cases in the state on Thursday. Bureau for Public Health Commissioner Ayne Amjad said 1,745 of those cases were from COIVD variants: 1,498 UK; 234 California; eight Brazil; and five South Africa.
The UK variant is in 51 counties, she said. Berkeley had the most, with 362. Monongalia ranked second with 153.
Monongalia was by far the tops for the number of California variant cases, with 164 of the 234. Berkeley was a distant second with 14.
The virus spread remains the worst among the young, COVID-19 Czar Clay Marsh said, sending the median age for active cases down another notch, from 34 to 33. The biggest age group to spread the variants is 20-29, and the virus in general is 10-19.
That highlights the importance of getting vaccinated, he said. The virus can only replicate and mutate when it’s infecting somebody. Un-vaccinated people act as reservoirs for the virus to mutate and create new variants.
TWEET David Beard @dbeardtdp
EMAIL dbeard@dominionpost.com
