After a fall surge even worse than last winter, West Virginia’s COVID-19 cases are finally trending down — for now. As the Associated Press recently reported, West Virginia has gone from first to worst in vaccination rates. Without widespread vaccination, another surge is sure to hit.
The DHHR COVID dashboard says 67.7% of West Virginians 12-and-older have at least one dose while only 59.2% are fully vaccinated. The CDC put those numbers much lower: 56.4%with at least one dose and only 47.2% fully vaccinated. Nowhere close to herd immunity by either measure.
Now let’s look at our ally across the pond: The U.K. had an early and successful vaccine rollout (more than 66% of its population fully vaccinated) and ended mask wearing and social distancing requirements in mid-July. Then, in October, it saw a surge with triple the daily case counts of its European neighbors. The start of the spike was driven by maskless and unvaccinated school children, then sustained by older vaccinated adults 10-plus months out from vaccination (indicating the importance of booster shots). Daily death counts remain over 100 (still a fraction of pre-vaccine deaths), but Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government will not re-impose any restrictions.
New Zealand — known for its “draconian” COVID lockdowns — has also experienced a late fall “surge”: A daily case count less than 200 in a country of 4.5 million people (with 77% of eligible residents fully vaccinated) and a total death count of 28.
What’s the key difference between these two countries?
New Zealand is flexible: It relaxes restrictions when COVID is under control and then imposes stricter measures when COVID cases spike. It’s an ebb and flow that has kept the country as close to COVID-free as any developed nation has come.
The U.K., however — like West Virginia — threw out its restrictions this summer, when school was out and nice weather allowed for safer outdoor activities, and has refused to re-instate any public health measures since.
Gov. Jim Justice once said that protecting public health was part of his job. At the start of the pandemic, for better or worse, he walked the walk. Now he only talks the talk.
If Justice is taking this pandemic as seriously as he claims, he needs to emulate New Zealand, not the U.K. His response needs to be flexible and proportionate to the situation. Instead, he’s taken the U.K. laissez-faire approach, and West Virginia added over 1,500 deaths in three months.
In lieu of replicating New Zealand’s harsh restrictions or the federal government’s push for a vaccine mandate, it’s time for Justice to re-implement the mask mandate, particularly for the unvaccinated. We’ve learned that masks do help slow the spread of COVID-19, and if West Virginians refuse to vaccinate, then they should have to do the bare minimum to contribute to the general welfare — and that means (correctly) wearing a face covering in enclosed public spaces.
The mask mandate worked once; it will work again.
