Justice concerned about COVID impact as schools prepare to reopen

CHARLESTON — Gov. Jim Justice said Thursday he is looking forward to attending Bluefield State College’s first football game ‘in forever,” but attendance at athletic events could be jeopardized if a lack of vaccinations lead to another surge in COVID cases.

“They are going to have football back to that great school in Bluefield,” he said during his Thursday pandemic briefing, referring to the football program’s return after 40 years. “I promised them I would be there. We are now going back to school and we hope and pray we are going to go to football games. We’ve got to get vaccinated.”

Justice said the percentage of those between 18 and 29 years old with at least one shot is only 46.9 percent with the rate at 41 percent for those 12 to 17 years old.

The concern is reflected in the statistics, with the nation and the state seeing increases in the number of new cases as well as the continuing spread of the Delta variant (India).

Delta cases in the state jumped from 22 on Tuesday to 35 on Thursday, prompting a new round of concern from state officials.

“Our Delta variant numbers are starting to jump a little bit,” Justice said. “We’re still only at 35. But if you listen to our health experts, they’ll tell you this thing’s coming. And if you get this Delta variant, it’s going to be really tough on you, so you’ve got to get vaccinated.”

Justice quoted a former Trump Administration COVID official who said, “If you are not vaccinated, you are going to get this.”

He urged all youth 12 and over to get vaccinated before school starts.

“Vaccination is a no-brainer to me,” he said.

Dr. Clay Marsh, state COVID-19 Czar, echoed those concerns, saying the Delta variant, which spreads easier and is more dangerous than other variants, also hits youth more.

Marsh discussed cases of young people in the ICU in Alabama and other places.

“This Delta variant is different than the viruses we’ve seen before related to COVID-19,” he said. “This virus is much more contagious and it’s able to spread much easier because there are such high concentrations of virus in the droplets.”

Marsh said there were more than 60,000 new cases of COVID-19 reported across the country Wednesday alone, and that the vast majority of new daily cases are from the Delta variant.

“If we look around the country, in the last two weeks, we’ve now seen a tripling of the number of new cases of COVID-19,” he said. “As we look at West Virginia, we’re still relatively early. But, based on every other place that we’ve seen, the Delta variant will take over and be the most common variant in West Virginia real soon.”

That is not good news with school starting in a few weeks.

“With school coming up and with many children who still haven’t been vaccinated, it’s really important for parents and grandparents for any vaccine-eligible child to choose vaccination,” he said. “Yesterday, we saw that a 5-year-old in Georgia died from COVID-19 and reports from Alabama are talking about young people now being in their ICUs having to be put on ventilators and respirators. One doctor said that when people are about to be put on a respirator because their lungs are failing, they ask, ‘Can I get vaccinated now?’ And the doctor has to say it’s too late.”

Marsh said vaccines are crucial to prevent these scenarios.

“We don’t want it to be too late for any West Virginian,” he said. “There is really no time to wait. Every West Virginian that hasn’t been vaccinated is at great risk with this Delta variant. Today is the day. Now is the time.”

Vaccines are very effective, he added, with an almost 100 percent protection against death.

“I am very worried,” Marsh said. “This (Delta variant) is different, it is much worse. I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but the more I learn about this the more I am worrying.”

Marsh also said that, so far, data is saying getting another shot from Pfizer to help boost the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine may be safe.

There is no guidance on this yet from either the FDA or CDC, he added, but it appears to be safe to mix one vaccine with another for a booster shot.

A concern has been raised about the J&J vaccine, which is about 66 percent effective in preventing contracting COVID and not as protective as Pfizer or Moderna, which are more than 90 percent effective.

However, Marsh said the J&J vaccine is between 90 percent and 94 percent effective in preventing COVID hospitalizations or death.

— Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com.