CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s virtual COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday was, in fact brief. As he normally does, the governor began by reading through the 85 latest COVID-related deaths in the state.
“More and more and more of us ought to go and get vaccinated. We ought to try and learn more about it. We ought to ease our fears the best we possibly can,” Justice said, urging West Virginians to go get first, second or booster shots.
“For certain, for certain, the more of us that are vaccinated, the less of us that’ll die,” Justice continued. Following up on that point, the state’s coronavirus “czar,” Dr. Clay Marsh pointed out that of the 4,219 COVID deaths in West Virginia, 225 or .02% were people who were fully vaccinated.
Later in the briefing, Justice again defended the vaccination exemptions bill he proposed to the state legislature as a “clarification.” He would hate to see someone lose their job “when they do have a legitimate exemption,” he said.
The governor also mentioned that he would be making an announcement on Thursday about trout stocking.
