CHARLESTON W.V. (LOOTPRESS) – Gov. Jim Justice announced Sunday afternoon that West Virginia is leading the nation in its rate of COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration.
According to a press release from Gov. Justice’s office, as of Sunday, West Virginia had administered 15,046 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, out of 16, 575 received- a 90.78 percent administration rate.
Bloomberg.com’s COVID Vaccine Tracker reveals that this is the highest administration rate of any state in the nation, with 0.84 percent of the population having been vaccinated. Second in the nation is North Dakota, with 0.74 percent of the state’s population having been vaccinated.
“While other states all around the nation are sitting around, trying to come up with a plan, we’re not waiting in West Virginia. We’re getting it done,” Justice said, adding that the state has been able to remain on top of the vaccinations with the help of the National Guard, health experts, the DHHR, and the state’s local partners.
“We are administering as many vaccines as quickly as possible.”
Justice, who disclosed that he is already ready to “roll out” the Moderna vaccine that was authorized by the FDA on Friday, that West Virginia is also leading the nation in distributing the vaccine to nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
“West Virginia is truly shining because we are putting a real focus on getting our nursing homes and assisted living facilities vaccinated first,” Justice said. “We were the first state in the country to require long-term care facilities to test 100 percent of their residents and staff, and I badly want to be the first state in the country to get all of these facilities vaccinated too. We plan to have this done in under a month. We literally may be finishing our vaccination to long-term care facilities before some states even start.”
As of Dec. 15, more than 550,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the United States out of a total 2,980,575 allocated vccines, according to Bloomberg.