W.Va. officials grow wary of COVID trends
State continues to ring alarm bells about seriousness of delta variant, vaccination rates

Justice
CHARLESTON — Gov. Jim Justice and West Virginia health officials hope by continuing to raise the alarm bells about increases in COVID-19 infections and the seriousness of the delta variant, the state’s vaccination rates will increase.
“We don’t come screaming ‘wolf, wolf, wolf’ about everything that comes along,” Justice said at the State Capitol Building Monday, the first day of a return to three briefings per week. “We should all in West Virginia have some level of concern about this delta variant. It could be something that would be very bad.”
According to the state Department of Health and Human Resources, the partial vaccination rate ticked up slightly since last Thursday’s briefing, from 67.9% for eligible residents age 12 and older to 68.3% as of Monday. According to the state joint interagency vaccine task force, more than 7,500 vaccines were put in arms since Friday.
More than 89% of West Virginia’s seniors age 65 and older have received either the first dose of the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, closing in on the 90% partial vaccination goal set by Justice a few weeks ago.
Last week, Justice announced the Booster Battlefield Assessment, an effort to test the older population and check vaccine antibody levels. Justice said West Virginia will start testing for antibodies with nursing home residents in order to determine whether booster shots may be needed. The data will be shared with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration.
“This is the first statewide program in the country to test and measure antibody levels,” Justice said. “We’re going to move as quickly as we possibly can to go to our nursing homes or on a voluntary basis — anyone who is age 60 and above who absolutely wants to get their antibodies tested — and then we’re going to share all of that information.”
James Hoyer, the leader of the state joint interagency task force for vaccines, said they are also taking volunteers for the Booster Battlefield Assessment. Hoyer said it could take a few weeks to get the program off the ground. The program will be funded through COVID-19 relief dollars with assistance from vaccine manufacturers. The task force is also working with West Virginia University and Marshall University.
“There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes … to get the logistics in place to work that,” Hoyer said. “People need to be patient as we put this process in place. It will take us some time to work through that.”
The Booster Battlefield Assessment is one effort by the Justice administration to combat the growth of the delta variant of COVID-19 as it becomes the dominant strain in the state and U.S.
The number of delta cases remained the same as Friday, with 100 cases discovered in West Virginia — a 132.6% increase from 43 cases as of last Wednesday. Justice said 29 counties are reporting delta cases, with Berkeley and Monongalia counties having the most.
Delta is causing a new spike nationally in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths among the unvaccinated. West Virginia’s high vaccination rates among those age 50 and older have largely prevented spikes in deaths, but cases and hospitalizations are on the rise again.
There was a 10% increase in active cases since Friday, from 2,252 active to 2,480 active cases as of Sunday. Sunday’s active case numbers represent a nearly 50% increase in active cases over the last seven days. The number is equal to 8% of the 29,257 active cases on Jan. 10 during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic last winter.
Hospitalizations rose to 178, a 60% increase from 111 seven days ago. The 178 hospitalizations represent 21.8% of the 818 hospitalizations on Jan. 5 at peak of last winter’s COVID-19 spike.
Serious infections resulting in use of ICU beds increased by 59.5% over the last seven days, from 42 cases on July 24 to 67 cases as of Friday. The 67 ICU cases represent about 31% of the 219 peak ICU cases on Jan 6.
Despite the increase in active cases and hospitalizations, deaths continue to remain low with three reported since Friday. Ten deaths were reported by DHHR over the last seven days.
State health officials said nearly all of West Virginia’s hospitalizations and deaths are among unvaccinated residents. While some vaccinated people can still be infected with COVID-19, those breakthrough infections are rare.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, 125,000 of vaccinated Americans, or 0.076%, had breakthrough infections as of July 26. Of those cases, 6,239 breakthrough infections, or 0.0004%, resulted in hospitalization and 1,263 breakthrough cases, or .0001%, have died. In West Virginia, 0.1% of vaccinated residents reported breakthrough infections.
(Adams can be contacted at sadams@newsandsentinel.com)