MORGANTOWN — Gov. Jim Justice briefly addressed his thoughts on running for U.S. Senate during Tuesday’s COVID briefing. But it was a COVID briefing and before the press dove into politics, Justice and his team talked numbers and vaccines.
Tuesday’s pandemic death toll was 7,590, and Joint Interagency Task Force Director Gen. James Hoyer pointed out that this number exceeds the populations of five counties: Grant, Tucker, Calhoun, Pendleton and Wirt. With just 12 more deaths, the count will top the number for Pleasants.
(Hoyer didn’t note it but three more counties have populations under 8,000: Clay, Pocahontas and Doddridge.)
Given that the vast majority of deaths are among the 65-and-up population, Hoyer said, the uptake for the latest booster — targeting the omicron variants — is not as strong as it needs to be.
Justice read off 33 more deaths at the start of the briefing — average age 70, he said.
COVID-19 czar Dr. Clay Marsh picked up on that. “We are reminded that COVID-19 is still with us and still mutating,” he said.
The omicron BA.5 descendants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are the new dominant variants, he said. BQ1.1 is seven times more infectious than BA.5 and 175 times more than the original virus. The BQs can evade monoclonal antibody treatments and the immune system that prevents infection, so it’s important to stay current on vaccines.
In the recent omicron surge, he said, 88% to 91% of the deaths were over age 65, but only 29% of those over 65 have received the new booster.
As always, West Virginia lags behind the other states in uptake of new variants, he said, and currently only 6% of the recently sequenced cases were BQ.1.1. It will be a week or two for the BQs to become dominant here.
“This gives us a really important window to make sure that we are taking advantage of being up to date with our COVID booster shot,” he said. If you have any symptoms, contact your provider; you may be eligible for the five-day course of Paxlovid antiviral. And get a flu shot, too.
Tuesday’s numbers reflect the steady post-BA.5 decline in infections: 637 active cases, 120 hospitalized, 16 in ICUs, and 7 on ventilators.
Justice for Senate?
Some of the 2024 election races started shaping up just days after this year’s on Nov. 8. Alex Mooney, elected to the new 2nd District Congressional seat, announced his run for U.S. Senate against Joe Manchin. State Treasurer Riley Moore this week announced his run to fill Mooney’s seat. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced he’ll likely seek a new position, but hasn’t specified which one.
In that context, Justice fielded a question on his plans to run for U.S. Senate, where he would face Mooney in the primary.
He said, “Without any question I’m thinking really hard about it. I’m very seriously considering running for Senate. … I have not made a final decision yet.”
For those wondering how he’d govern the state during a campaign, he said, “Whatever I do I’ll be your governor the next two years.”
Turning back to the question, he said, “You’ll know real soon.”
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