Justice wants third COVID-19 vaccine dose authorized sooner than Sept. 20

News Release
August 18, 2021

CHARLESTON — During Wednesday’s briefing, Gov. Justice announced that the Biden Administration has authorized a third COVID-19 vaccine dose for Americans who are fully vaccinated. This plan is still subject to approval by the CDC and FDA.

The additional dose will be administered eight months after the second dose of the vaccine. The Federal Government plans to begin booster vaccination administration in late September, but West Virginia is working to expedite the process and protect vulnerable citizens as soon as possible.

“We are going to continue to push in every way to be able to get our people who are the most exposed the booster shot,” Gov. Justice said. “While I try not to be critical, we are making too many mistakes. We need to move and September 20th to me just isn’t going to cut it.”

Per federal guidelines, individuals seeking the third dose will be required to take the same vaccine from the two-dose regimen which only includes Pfizer and Moderna.

West Virginia plans to prioritize at-risk populations, like those in long-term care facilities and medical professionals, for immediate booster vaccine administration.

The Governor also reported today that there are now 458 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant statewide.

The total number of active COVID-19 cases in West Virginia has now reached 7,579; an increase of 1,630 from Monday’s case total.

Hospitalizations continue to increase as well, with 409 people currently hospitalized. Of that total, 135 patients are in the ICU and 51 patients are on a ventilator.

“We have now lost more people in West Virginia to COVID-19 than we did from the 9/11 incident in the United States,” said State Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh. “We need to start to rally around each other to become vaccinated. The treatment that we have for this virus are the vaccines.”

Free COVID-19 vaccinations remain available to all West Virginians ages 12 and older.

All West Virginians interested in being vaccinated are encouraged to visit vaccinate.wv.gov or call the West Virginia Vaccine Info Line: 1-833-734-0965. The info line is open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.