| As the U.S. races to vaccinate the population against Covid-19 and get the country back to some semblance of normalcy, West Virginia has executed its inoculation campaign better than most richer and healthier states.
It's a surprising twist for a remote corner of the nation that regularly ranks at or near the bottom of lists measuring public health. Now, with the arrival of Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine, West Virginia is continuing to innovate.
The J&J vaccine is easy to transport because it doesn't require freezing. It also obviates the need to track people to ensure they return to same location for a second dose. So health officials in West Virginia are taking it on the road to reach homeless and homebound people and others who might otherwise balk at even a single dose.  Health-care workers administer Covid-19 vaccines in West Virginia. Photographer: Justin Merriman/Justin Merriman/Bloomberg Johnson & Johnson's vaccine "opens us up to a part of the state that was pretty much closed to us," says Clay Marsh, West Virginia's Covid-19 czar and executive dean for health sciences at West Virginia University.
This was true for Sherri Young, executive director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department.
She got her first shipment March 3 and promptly jumped in a colleague's pickup truck to find homeless people to vaccinate around Charleston, the capital, which has a population of just 48,000. Over the next several days, Kanawha County health officials gave out vaccines at homeless shelters and soup kitchens and are anxiously awaiting more J&J vials.
The state initially focused on quickly reaching older West Virginians after data showed that group made up almost all of the deaths there. The decision paid off and Covid-19 deaths in West Virginia dropped 88% from a Jan. 10 high through March 7, compared with a 46% decline nationwide. Since March 3 the vaccine has been available to anyone age 50 or older.
The state's vaccine efforts are supported by a joint task force led by the National Guard that has amassed data crucial to West Virginia's successful approach, including relying on independent community pharmacies to vaccinate nursing home residents and staff rather than federally backed national chain stores like Walgreens and CVS.
The next step is reaching out to people who have been reluctant or unable to get vaccinated. The task force, for instance, has identified about 600 miners they plan to target with the state's next J&J shipment, using mobile clinics to reach them during shift changes. "We've been pushing vaccines to people, but we have hit a point where we are also going to have to pull people to vaccines," said Major General James Hoyer, who heads the group.—Anna Edney | 
⋗≗⋄〖Film!〗 2020 Rosas do Asfalto PelÃcula Completa En LÃnea released 2020. story: Rosas do Asfalto PelÃcula Completa En LÃnea. △∴∻Rosas do...
Post a Comment