The Journey Of West Virginia From The Best To The Worst

As soon as vaccines against coronavirus were approved and made available one of the 250 pharmacies that helped West Virginia get off from the shackles of the lethal virus was Ric Griffith. Its vaccination rate was one of the fastest in the country.

Jim Justice, a Republican governor declared on national news shows that President West Virginia came out as a diamond in the rough. It is usually always at the bottom when it comes to health indicators.

The Journey Of West Virginia From The Best To The Worst

It has been nine months and it looks like those days are a distant memory. Vaccines are no longer demanded and their debates have become mostly political. Data now shows that vaccination rates of West Virginia have hit rock bottom.

The governor of West Virginia spent months urging people to get vaccinated and talking about the advantages of getting their shots to reluctant Virginians. The governor is still doing it but is also promoting laws allowing exemptions to employees said vaccine mandates.

The state House of Delegates’ Democratic member, Griffith said that they took a victory lap too early and discovered that there are still multiple laps left in their journey. West Virginia has descended from the best to the worst. Since then the druggist has diverted his attention to preparing pumpkins for Halloween.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 41% of residents of West Virginia, roughly 1.8 million people, are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The CDC says that the rate of administration of vaccines in West Virginia is the worst in the nation. The rate is 89,000 shots per 100,000 population.

Officials of the task force in West Virginia claim that the percentage of the state is higher than what is reported in the CDC data.

In the country, more than 57% of the total population is fully vaccinated and more than 66% of people have taken their first dose.

It wasn’t a lack of trying in the case of West Virginia. Justice offered incentives for months to the people. Carrying his pet bulldog everywhere, he dispensed riding lawn mowers, cars, cash, pickup trucks to college scholarships and college athletic events.

Unfortunately, it only produced good photos. The vaccination rate of the state barely budged.

A new wave of death and sickness arrived by the fall. Hospitals were once again overburdened. The rate of new cases which had lowered to 1000 per day in July rose to more than 30,000 by mid-September. The number of deaths in this outbreak has been more than 4,400.

The country’s third oldest population resides in West Virginia. Around 20% of residents in West Virginia are more than 65 years old. Medical officials say that most of the deaths in the state have been reported in the same group which comprises mostly of vulnerable people.

The governor is continuously encouraging people to wear masks, stay out of crowded places and he has even reprimanded unvaccinated people. He told them that they should be respectful to others and as more people get vaccinated in the state, it will cause fewer deaths.

Griffith said that he loves the nonstop effort of justice to push vaccines and he loves the people of West Virginia very much.

Justice has however opposed vaccination mandates and also ended statewide mask mandates imposed for indoor spaces. In October he allowed workers to get medical and religious exemptions from vaccines. It will take effect in January. 

He introduced this bill as opposed to president Joe Biden‘s requirement that requires employers with more than 100 employees to compulsorily get them vaccinated with an option of regular testing.