CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state will offer COVID-19 vaccinations to West Virginia residents over the age of 80 on a first-come, first-served basis.
Gov. Jim Justice announced the move Wednesday, which he said would benefit the state’s elderly residents.
“The faster that we can get shots in arms of people, especially that are of significant age, the more lives we are going to save,” Justice said at his media briefing at the state Capitol.
Officials earlier this week finished a two-week effort of an initial round of vaccinations at 214 nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Justice said now is the time to move the effort to elderly residents who are part of the general population.
Justice said the doses of vaccine were being sent to 82 Federally Qualified Health Centers in the state including primary care physicians, health clinics and local health departments.
Those receiving the vaccines Wednesday were scrambling to set up a schedule to offer the shots as their phones were ringing off the hook.
Justice clarified after the briefing there remains a limited supply of vaccination doses.
“There will be ongoing supply of vaccines available through local health departments for West Virginians age 80 and older. Health departments will individually announce availability and locations for vaccinations. If individuals in this age category are patients at a Federally Qualified Health Center, they will be contacted by that center regarding access to a COVID-19 vaccine,” he said in a release.
“West Virginians are urged not to show up at local health departments or National Guard armories for vaccination unless a vaccination clinic for those age 80 and older is scheduled. Please do not overwhelm pharmacies, clinics, hospitals, or the COVID-19 hotline by calling repeatedly.”
Justice also announced a plan to have larger vaccination events for the elderly at a handful of National Guard armories around the state. Justice stressed there would be limited amount of doses at each location.
“We cannot do more than what we have but we can get them out fast, we can get them to the people that need them the most and then absolutely we can cry to the mountaintops to get more,” Justice said.
According to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker project, West Virginia is leading the U.S. in vaccine distribution with more than 2% of its residents already receiving an initial shot. The DHHR dashboard said Wednesday the state has received 86,800 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines and administered 37,862 vaccinations.
Major General Jim Hoyer, the state’s adjutant general, said offering the vaccinations to the elderly would be a logistical challenge but one worth pursuing.
“If we’re going to take care of the people of West Virginia–we’ve been bold at it, but we’ve got to be bolder than we’ve been before,” Hoyer said. “This a bold effort and it’s going to take a lot of work by a lot of people but we owe it to the people of West Virginia to press forward.”
Justice said once those over 80 are vaccinated the plan would be to offer vaccinations to other residents.
“Then we’ll double right back and get the 70-year-old plus and then we’ll double back and do the 60-year-old plus,” Justice said.
There were no specific schedules for the clinics as of Wednesday afternoon. Justice said the information would be posted in the coming days on the DHHR website and other locations.