Story at a glance
- West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) on Monday said he is making COVID-19 booster shots available to all adults in the state.
- The state joins Colorado, California and New Mexico in opening booster access to all adults.
- Data shows that approximately 60.3 percent of West Virginia residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) on Monday said he is making COVID-19 booster shots available to all adults in the state.
“I think that is absolutely the message that I’ve been trying to get out to people,” Justice said in a news conference.
“I absolutely believe that if you’re 18 years of age, you can get your booster shot,” he added.
Pfizer’s boosters are currently available to adults over the age of 65 and to younger adults in at-risk populations. But the company and its German partner BioNTech submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week to open their COVID-19 booster to all adults 18 and older.
West Virginia joins Colorado, California and New Mexico in opening booster access to all adults. New York City on Monday expanded eligibility to all residents 18 and older.
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“West Virginia is known to have a lot of residents of high comorbidities,” state health officer Ayne Amjad said. “So most of our population would qualify. I would agree that anyone who needs to get their booster shot needs to go out there and get it.”
Data shows that approximately 60.4 percent of eligible West Virginia residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine while nearly 52 percent are fully vaccinated.
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