CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An increasing number of nursing home residents across the state are receiving a second COVID-19 vaccination booster.
West Virginia Health Care Association Chief Executive Director Marty Wright said residents are being encouraged to get a second booster five months after they received their first booster.
“The numbers have not been released yet but it’s a pretty steady up-tick,” Wright said Monday during an appearance on MetroNews “Talkline.” “All indications are we are seeing a very similar booster rate. It may not be as high as the first booster rate.”
Nearly 85% of eligible nursing home residents have received an initial booster shot, Wright said.
“We’re aggressively getting (the second booster) and making it available to anyone who wants it,” he said.
Doses of the vaccine and boosters are readily available through the state’s distribution system using local and national pharmacies along with the state’s InterAgency Task Force, Wright said.
Nursing home residents who received the first booster experienced “minimal to no hospitalizations” in the Omicron variant surge, Wright said.
State COVID update
State Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh said he remains pleased with the state’s current COVID-19 numbers but there is an indication of some spread.
“Our Rt value today went up,” Marsh said during Monday’s coronavirus media briefing. “It’s .97. Remember anything over 1 means COVID is spreading, under 1 means COVID is not.”
Marsh said new information from the state DHHR Bureau for Public Health breaks down the COVID death numbers in West Virginia.
Marsh said of the 6,755 COVID deaths in the state, 50% have been to those West Virginians over 75, 76% of the deaths to those over 65 and 95% to those over 50-years-old.
The DHHR reported 321 active cases on Monday’s dashboard.
Hospitalizations close to dropping under 100
State InterAgency Task Force Director Jim Hoyer said COVID hospitalizations, listed Monday at 101, haven’t been this low in nine months.
“The last time we saw those type of numbers in our hospitals was mid-July of last year,” Hoyer said. “It continues a positive trend for us in West Virginia moving forward.”
Hoyer said the numbers show West Virginians are using the state’s new vaccination calculator. He said 100,000 state residents have completed the calculations in recent weeks, averaging about 5,000 a day. He said most of the participation is from those over the age of 50.