West Virginia officials are advising people who have registered for a covid-19 vaccination locally to repeat the process with the state’s separate registration system.
That’s a little different from advice state residents initially received. At first, people were told that if they had registered for vaccinations through local health department, then they wouldn’t lose their spot.
That’s still true.
But a nuance is that the state’s registration system run through Everbridge has fields that ask for demographic information that may not be reflected by local waiting lists. The demographic information may allow some residents to receive vaccinations faster, said Major Holli Nelson of the West Virginia National Guard.
“Each individual county or local health department, as they were collecting names of people waiting to get vaccinated, they were collecting large lists. They may not have all the information we need,” Nelson said today on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
“Nobody is going to lose their place in line. Actually, people might get served quicker as we capture that information.”
Major Holli Nelson, West Virginia National Guard, joins @HoppyKercheval to discuss how to sign-up for vaccines in West Virginia. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nDJuy pic.twitter.com/YuQRYgGQM2
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) February 5, 2021
Last week, West Virginia became the first state in the nation to put a statewide vaccination pre-registration system in place. The new digital tool allows West Virginians to add themselves to a list of people who are interested in being vaccinated, and will notify those who sign up about the availability of vaccine doses to help streamline vaccination efforts.
Through mid-week, more than 177,000 West Virginians had signed up to be added to the pre-registration list.
West Virginians age 16 and older can pre-register online or call the COVID-19 Vaccine Info Line (1-833-734-0965) to get help pre-registering.
Pre-registering in the system does not automatically grant users access to a vaccine appointment. Rather, users will receive a message from the system when there is a vaccine available. When that occurs, users will be notified by text, email or phone call to set up an appointment.
“Getting pre-registered is vitally important,” Nelson said today. “We know we have a limited supply of vaccines every week. It’s been increasing slowly recently but not by much, so we know it’s going to take a while for everybody.”
Through Friday morning, state statistics showed that 205,252 first vaccine doses had been administered.
And 88,807 second doses had been administered. Both the Pfizer and Moderna versions of vaccine call for a second dose for full vaccination.
West Virginia has emphasized the vaccination of residents age 65 and older, in line with federal guidance. So the largest age group receiving vaccinations so far is residents 65 to 74 — 51,784.
The second largest group is residents 75 to 84 — 49,553.
More women than men have been vaccinated so far, 63 percent to 37 percent.
In terms of race, almost 93 percent of those vaccinated are white and just over 2 percent are black. U.S. Census data shows West Virginia’s population as 93 percent white and 3.7 percent black with small numbers of other groups making up the balance.
“Please pre-register. Even if you’d registered before at the county level, go ahead and register. You won’t lose your place in line,” Clay Marsh, the state’s coronavirus response coordinator, said during a briefing.
“We will prioritize the people at the highest risk of dying and with the greatest risk from covid-19.”
Gov. Jim Justice, speaking during a regular briefing, urged people to register for vaccinations. The governor noted that there’s no penalty for registering with the state even for those who have already registered with a local health department.
Justice signaled that he wants to protect every state resident.
“We are trying to look after all the demographics and everybody,” Justice said.
Right now, health officials are working through the registration lists from oldest to youngest to arrange appointments, Nelson said.
If an appointment time is proposed that isn’t possible or convenient, Nelson said people shouldn’t worry. People who decline a particular time slot remain in the system for future opportunities, she said.
“If you’re not available and you’re 85 years old, it’s going to go back up to the top of the queue,” Nelson said.
Eventually, the state’s registration system will be able to provide more detailed updates on when those who sign up may expect a shot, Nelson said. Right now, though, the focus is simply trying to register as many people as possible.
“We’re working through those names on those lists,” Nelson said. “There’s a potential we can serve you even quicker if we have all the information we need to contact you.”