CHARLESTON — During Monday’s briefing, Gov. Justice announced that West Virginia will start offering COVID-19 vaccines to all state residents age 16 and older, beginning immediately.

“As we continue to lead the nation with our vaccine distribution, we do not want to let our foot off the gas,” Gov. Justice said. “I encourage all West Virginians to take advantage of this opportunity and get vaccinated.”

West Virginians who are age 65 and older will continue to be prioritized first until all state residents in that age range who desire to receive the vaccine have been vaccinated.

“At the same time, we have got to get more and more West Virginians vaccinated, and now is our time,” Gov. Justice said. “Let’s go, West Virginia. Let’s get everyone in the state vaccinated. That’s our goal.”

Gov. Justice went on to encourage all West Virginians age 16 and older wishing to be vaccinated to pre-register at vaccinate.wv.gov or by calling the COVID-19 Vaccine Info Line at 1-833-734-0965.

FAIRS AND FESTIVALS WILL BE ALLOWED TO RESUME MAY 1

Also on Monday, Gov. Justice announced that all fairs, festivals, and similar events will be allowed to resume, beginning Saturday, May 1, 2021.

“These events are part of the fabric of our state. We want them to go on,” Gov. Justice said. “I expect all these events to continue following all safety guidelines in order to keep West Virginians safe if they choose to attend these events.”

Gov. Justice added that updated safety guidelines will be issued later this week on the West Virginia Strong – The Comeback page of the Governor’s website.

“Unless there’s a real backslide with our numbers, we plan to have all of our fairs and festivals as we try to get back to some level of normalcy,” Gov. Justice said.

VACCINE DISTRIBUTION UPDATE

Additionally Monday, Gov. Justice reported that West Virginia has now successfully administered 709,830 doses after receiving a total allotment of 737,730 doses from the federal government to date; an overall administration rate of 96.2%.

West Virginia currently boasts a first dose administration rate of 102.2%, which exceeds 100% due to extra doses being extracted from vials of the vaccine, and a second dose administration rate of 87.7%.

• First doses: 441,903 administered / 432,240 allotted
• Second doses: 267,927 administered / 305,490 allotted