Omicron Story Archives - Page 2 of 2 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

'This Is Not Over' Justice Says As State Eyes New Boosters

Gov. Jim Justice is urging West Virginians to be aware that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over.

During Tuesday’s pandemic press briefing, Justice announced the death of the state’s youngest COVID-19 victim, a 13-year-old girl from Nicholas County, along with 22 additional deaths from the virus. The state’s COVID death toll now stands at 7,253.

“Again, I asked for your prayers, I ask for your awareness that this is not over,” Justice said. “I mean, how tragic is it for us to lose a beautiful 13-year-old girl?”

Ret. Maj. Gen. Jim Hoyer drove home the point that the pandemic is not over as he discussed the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force’s tabletop exercise from the day before.

“We still believe that 500 is the number that we need to pay attention to and that’s based on the seasons and what we’re dealing with with the flow of patients in and out of hospitals as well as staffing issues and challenges that would come from COVID,” Hoyer said.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in West Virginia are currently at 340. Justice expressed concern that cooler temperatures in fall and winter could exacerbate COVID-19 and put further strain on hospital resources.

Hoyer said the exercise was also focused on the imminent approval and distribution of bivalent booster shots, designed to target omicron subvariants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects the Food and Drug Administration to grant Emergency Use Authorizations for new bivalent COVID-19 boosters developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna in or around September 2022. However, administration of any new boosters can begin only after CDC’s official recommendations.

“The ordering process has begun for this updated booster version and an order was placed yesterday and then an order will be placed on the 29th of August,” Hoyer said.

Exact numbers for the order were not immediately available.

Later in the press conference, State Health Officer Dr. Ayne Amjad clarified that the upcoming dose is a booster shot, not a primary immunization. Those seeking to receive the shot would need to complete a primary series of COVID-19 vaccines before receiving the omicron-specific booster.

W.Va. COVID-19 Czar Highlights New Precautions, Protocols.

West Virginia Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh says right now, we are dealing with the most infectious forms of COVID-19.

West Virginia COVID-19 hospitalizations have nearly tripled since April. State health experts are now highlighting new precautions and protocols.

West Virginia Coronavirus Czar Dr. Clay Marsh says right now, we are dealing with the most infectious forms of COVID-19.

During Gov. Jim Justice’s regular coronavirus briefing Monday, Marsh said the latest omicron variants are breaking through to people who have had a previous infection and gained immunity, or who have been vaccinated four months ago or longer.

“We are all about trying to help people see that staying up to date with the vaccines is absolutely the best protection that you can have against these variants,” Marsh said. “The variants that are coming here are not only more infectious, but they also replicate better in the lower airways, in the lungs.”

Marsh said it’s also been reported that with these new omicron variants, some of the rapid testing may not register positive as quickly as seen before.

“If you do develop symptoms of COVID-19 like disease and the symptoms continue to progress even though you would test negative with a home test, it’s probably a good idea to continue to test yourself,” Marsh said. “Not only so that you make sure that you aren’t infectious to spread it to others. But also if you’re in that vulnerable age category 50 and older.”

Marsh said to expect a new vaccination schedule out soon for people in the highest risk categories.

He also said there are efforts underway to develop a nasal vaccine.

“This virus enters the nose, the mucosal membranes, and the kind of immunity for the mucosal membranes is a different kind of immunity than we get when we get a shot,” Marsh said.

State COVID-19 prevention leaders also say they are ready for distribution when vaccines are approved for children under 5 years old.

Officials: West Virginia Likely To See Another COVID Surge

Coronavirus czar Dr. Clay Marsh warned that the state should be bracing for another wave, this time from the omicron-BA.2 variant.

All 55 counties are still green on the state’s COVID-19 dashboard, but if international trends are anything to go by, that could soon change.

At Gov. Jim Justice’s regular COVID-19 press briefing, coronavirus czar Dr. Clay Marsh warned that, based on case data from Europe and the United Kingdom in particular, the state should be bracing for another wave, this time from the omicron-BA.2 variant.

“They also, through the middle and part of February, were seeing the same reduction as we’re seeing now in West Virginia,” Marsh said. “Then at the beginning of March, the BA.2 variant really picked up for them, and ended up increasing not only the number of cases, but also the number of hospitalizations and the number of deaths in the United Kingdom.”

BA.2 is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States. West Virginia has confirmed 12 cases of the BA.2 variant, but the state’s case numbers often lag two to four weeks behind larger population centers. Marsh said it is only a matter of time before the strain is dominant in the state as well.

Both Marsh and Justice renewed calls for vaccination after the Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of a second COVID boosters for some older and immunocompromised people earlier Tuesday. The booster still requires approval from the Centers for Disease Control before public release.

Descendant Of Omicron Variant Detected in West Virginia

West Virginia has identified its first two cases of a descendant of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, Gov. Jim Justice said Friday.

The variant, which scientists call BA.2, was detected in COVID-19 patients in Berkeley and Ohio counties, Justice said at a briefing on the virus.

Dr. Clay Marsh, the state’s coronavirus expert, said nearly half of U.S. states have seen a few cases of the new variant, which “might be more contagious but doesn’t appear to be as severe.”

Justice added that BA.2 “is not more alarming to us.”

Particular genetic traits in the latest version make it somewhat harder to detect. The mutant appears much more common in Asia and Europe.

Marsh said it appears that cases of the original omicron variant have peaked in West Virginia and are starting to recede.

But officials remain guarded because there are 1,038 people hospitalized for the virus, including 232 in intensive care units. Marsh said the number of deaths have not gone down and “that is a lagging part of this surge.

“We are still at risk for more people to die in the next several weeks,” he said.

Marsh and Justice urged residents to get vaccinated for the virus, including booster shots.

Virus Cases, Hospitalizations Surge In West Virginia

Active coronavirus cases skyrocketed 72 percent in West Virginia and hospitalizations surged over the past week as the omicron variant started to take a firm hold in the state.

There were 11,138 confirmed COVID-19 cases statewide last week, shattering the one-week record of 9,587 set in mid-September, according to the Department of Health and Human Resources’ dashboard. The state surpassed 2,000 positive cases for the first time, doing so on three consecutive days, including a record 2,564 on Friday.

Active cases reached 15,015 on Sunday and have more than doubled since Dec. 24. It’s the highest total since September, when cases surged to a record of nearly 30,000.

The number of people hospitalized for the virus in West Virginia hit 721 on Monday, the highest since mid-October. The figure is up 29 percent since Christmas.

Dr. Clay Marsh, the state’s coronavirus expert, said last week that the spread of the omicron variant lagged behind the rest of the nation with the variant detected in about 15 percent of West Virginia cases.

Gov. Jim Justice had warned that the latest surge could overrun hospitals. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 81 percent of intensive-care unit beds statewide are in use, including 31 percent for COVID-19 patients.

The West Virginia Hospital Association has said that the high number of COVID-19 patients combined with hospital visits for trauma, flu and other patients “has strained the health care system, and now after nearly two years, the system is nearing a breaking point as health care workers are mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted.”

Justice has implored state residents to get vaccinated for the virus, including booster shots. About half of the state’s population is fully vaccinated and 61% have received at least one dose, according to state health officials.