Age to get COVID-19 vaccine in West Virginia moves to 65

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - West Virginia Governor Jim Justice has announced the age to get a vaccine has changed.

Governor Justice made the announcement during a press conference on Tuesday.

As part of Operation Saving Our Wisdom, the governor says they are officially moving vaccine age to 65. He says this is because the CDC is promoting to do that and doesn’t want to create any obstacles from the state getting vaccines.

There will be several vaccination clinics held for those 65 years of age and older. Click here for more information.

Governor Justice said “West Virginia is knocking it so far out of the park it’s unbelievable” when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine.

As of January 19, the administration rate for first doses is 99.6%. 156,373 doses have been administered in total. You can find out more about vaccine distribution data here.

The governor says the state expected an additional 25,000 vaccines either on Monday or Tuesday and they didn’t come. He says his office is working to get more.

WVU Medicine has announced they will open a community based vaccine clinic for Morgantown area residents at the former Sears building at the Morgantown Mall. They expect to hold the clinic on an ongoing basis.

Governor Justice says he was officially sworn in Sunday night with his family in attendance, along with a few people from his office. His Inauguration Ceremony will be held on Friday. It will not be open to the public, the governor stated.

Bill Crouch, secretary of West Virginia DHHR, says the map came up Tuesday morning with Lincoln County as red. He says Lincoln County was actually orange. He says there was a duplicate.

Secretary Crouch says they have reached out to the Public Service Commission in connection with help to paying bills. The PSC says if you have fees on your bills to contact the utility company directly to see if they can remove them. You can also ask for an informal request for assistance through the PSC.

They also reached out to the United States Postal Service in regards to staffing. Those are related to COVID-19 issues.

The governor also announced he has authorized to get a new system in place to help with the calls on getting COVID-19 vaccines.

The DHHR is finalizing an agreement to provide a system to allow registration online for individuals to schedule the COVID-19 vaccine. Secretary Crouch says they hope within the next few days, you can be registered with the online call system. That way, when you call in, they can take your name and information and the system itself will communicate back to you using your preferred method (email, text or phone call) to let you know when the time comes for your vaccination. It will work for both the health department level and individuals.

Keep checking the WSAZ App for the latest information.