West Virginia governor feeling better after COVID-19 diagnosis, credits vaccine with saving his life
Updated: 12:00 PM EST Jan 14, 2022
♪ SOLEDAD: I’M SOLEDAD’O'BRIEN. WELCOME TO "MATTER OF FA."CT THE COVID VARIANT OMICROISN TRIGGERING FEAR AND RAISING CONCERNS ABOUT HOW IT SPREADS AND WHETHER VACCINES AND TREATMENTS WILL BE EFFECVETI AGAINST IT. WHEN COVID-19 VACCINESIRST F ROLLED OUT, WEST VIRGINIA LED THE WAY WITH ITS SPEEDY DISTRIBUTION. ABOUT 95% OF WEST VIRGINIANS 65 AND OLDER HAVE RECEIVED AT LSTEA ONE DOSE. BUT NOW, RATES AMONG YOUERNG GROUPS DRAMATICALLY TRAIL THE REST OF THE COUNTRY. ONLY FOUR OUT OF 10 ADULTS AGED 18 TO 64 ARE FULLY VACCINATED. SO, HOW DID WEST VIRGINIA GO FROM BEING NUMBER ONE TO NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE PA?CK OUR CORRESPONDENT JULIA NSU TRAVELED ACROSS WEST VIRGINITOA LEARN MORE. JULIA: THE AIR IS CRISP ON THIS MID-NOVEMBER D IAYN THE MOUNTAIN STATE. FALL HAS TAKEN UP RESIDENCE HERE WITH IT, A KIND OF PANDEMIC FATIGUE I DISCOVER ABOUT 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF CHARLESNTO WHEN I STOP TO TALK WITH SEVERAL PEOPLE WAITING FOR THEIR RAPID TEST RESULTS IN A PARKING LOT. CAN I ASK IF YOU’VE BEEN VACCINATED? >> WE HAVE NOT BEEN VACCINED.AT JULIA: YOU HAVE NOT BEEN VACCINATED. WHAT’S THE ONE REASON YOU’RE NOT VACCINAT?ED LIKE, WHAT CONCERNS U?YO I’M CONCERNED THAT THE VACNECI WAS NOT WORKED ON LONG ENOUGH. JULIA: CONCERNS THAT THE VACNECI HASN’T BEEN WORKED ON LONG ENOUGH AND MIGHT NOT BE SA IFES A COMMON REFRAIN HERE. WEST VIRGINIA’S COVID CZAR DR. CLAY MARSH HAS HEARD IT L.AL DR. MARSH: FOR THE PEOPLE ATTH ARE WORRIED ABOUT THE SPEED OF THE MESSENR GERNA VACCINES, THESE ARE AMONG THE SAFEST AND BY FAR THE MOST EFFECTIVE VACCINES THAT HAVE EVER BEEN PRODUCED. JULIA: ABOUT 10 MONTHS AGO, MARSH’S HOME STATE WAS LEADING THE NATION IN GETTING SHOTINS ARMS, DRIVEN BY THE URGENCTOY PROTECT THE STATE’S AGING POPULATI.ON WITH ONE IN FIVE RESIDENTS OVER 64, MARSH GAVE ALL PHARMACIES , BIG AND SMALL, THE GREENLIGHT TO GIVE SHOTASS SOON THEAS VACCINES WERE AVAILABLE. LYNNE FRUTH: I KWNO THAT IT IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THIS COMMUNITY. JULIA: PHARMACY OWNER LYNNE FRUTH SAYS THAT DREOV VACCINATION RATES UP AT FIRST. LY NNE FRUTH: I LIKE TO SAY WE’RE FIRST TO WORST AS FAR AS THE VACCINE. THE STATE DID A PHENOMENAL JOB ROLLING OUT THE INITIAL VACCINE. JULIA: WHICH MONTH DID YOU SEE A VISIBLE DOWNTICK? LYNNE FRUTH: IN MAY, IT JUST DROPPED OFF A CLF.IF JULIA: THE RUSH ENDED WHEN EVERY WILLING TAKER HAD ENBE VACCINATED. NOW, THE FOCUS IS ON THE BOOSTER SHOTS. >> YOU JUST GOT YOUR BOOSTER, HOW DO YOU FEEL? FRANK BAIRD: OH, I FEEL FINE. LIKE I SAID, I’VE LIVED THROUGH TWO YEARS OF THIS, AND IT AIN’T GOING TO KILL YMEET. JULIA: FOR FRANK BAIRD AND HIS WIFE, WHO HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR 59 YEARS, THE TRIP TO THE PHARMACY FOR A SHOT IS JUST ETH SMART THING TO DO. FRANK BAIRD: EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY HAS BEEN INOCULAT.ED JULIA: BUT THE BAIRD FAMY ISIL THE EXCEPTION, NOT THE RULE. ACROSS WEST VIRGINIA, ONLY 41% OF RESIDENTS ARE FLYUL VACCINEDAT JIM HOYER HEADS UP WEST VIRGINIA’S PANDEMIC RESNSEPO TASK FOR.CE HIS HIGHEST PRIORITIES, TO SUPPORT HOSPITALS WITH HIGH PATIENT LOADS, DISTRIBUTE BOOSTER SHOTS TO COMMUNITIES, AND TO COMBAT THE MISINFORTIMA ONLINE, THAT HE SAYS HAS FUELED VACCINSKE EPTICISM, ALONG WITH RESIDENTS’ NEARLY INGRAINED APPREHENSION OF AUTHITOR JIM HOYER: WITH THIS NATURAL NDTEENCY TO HAVE HESITANCY AND TRUSTING THE GOVERNMENT THAT WE IN THE APPALACHIAN REGIOHAN HAD SINCE -- I GO BACK TO THE MINE WARS. JULIA: IN TIGHTLY-ITKN COMMUNITIES, FACE-TO-FACE CONVERSATIONS SEEM THE MOST EFFECTIVE. LYNNE FRUTH: AN ELDERLY LADY CAME THROUGH A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, TESTED POSITIVE. I NOTICED THAT SHE WAS UNVACCINATED, AND I WALKEDUT O TO HER CAR. IT WAS SOMEBODY THAT I HAD MET IN THE COMMUNITY, AND I JUST SAID, I’M SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU. JULIA: WHAT DO YOU SAY TO PEOPLE WHO THINK, OH, YOU’RE JUST SOMEBODY ON THE INTERN?ET LYNNE FRUTH: WELL, I’M FROM HERE. WE AT FRUTH PHARMACY HAVE GIVEN 30,000 TO 40,000 SHOTS, AND WE’VE NOT HAD ANY SIOUSER ADVERSE REACONS.TI JULIA: PHARMACT ISDREW MASSEY HAS GIVEN 25,000 SHOTS IN E WESTERN REGION OF THE STATE. HE REGULARLY GOES TO TESTING SITES AND SCHOOLS TO SPEAKO T THE UNVACCINATED, ESPECIALLY THE YOUNGER ON.ES DREW MASSEY: YOU KNOW, THEY FEEL LIKE THEY’RE BULLETPROOF. D ANSOMETIMES IT TAKES SOMEONE CLOSE TO YOU BEING DRASTICALLY AFFECTED OR BEING HOSPITALIZED BEFORE IT REALLY BRINGS IT HE.OM DR. MARSH: IT’S BEEN SAID THAT A SINGLE DEATH IS A STORY AND A MILLION DEATHS ARE A STATIST.IC COVID IS MADE TO INFECPEONT AFTER PERSON, AND IT'S’NOT UP TO US TO EXPECT COVID TO GET LESS FIT, B IUTT’S UP TO US TO GET MORE FIT, TO BE ABLE TO BECOME FIREWALLS. JULIA: AN UPHILL CLIMB IN THE MOUNTAIN STATE, WHERE CASES ARE RISING, AND WHERE MIXED ATTITUDES THREENAT PROGRESS AGAINST THE PANDEMIC. FOR "MATTER OF FACT,
Related video above: How West Virginia went from first to the worst in vaccination ratesWest Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said he was feeling better on Thursday, two days after a COVID-19 diagnosis, according to a statement from the governor's office."Thankfully, I am feeling much better today," Justice said. "I desperately want to get out of this house and back to serving our state. I am not one to lay around."The governor continues to experience mild symptoms and his monoclonal antibody treatment was received well, the statement said."Without question, the fact that I chose to get vaccinated and boosted saved my life, that's all there is to it. So, now more than ever, I strongly encourage all West Virginians to protect themselves and their families by getting vaccinated," Justice added.The 70-year-old woke Tuesday morning with congestion and a cough, eventually developing a headache and fever, according to a statement Tuesday. By late afternoon, his blood pressure and heart rate were elevated and he had a high fever.Results from a rapid test in the morning came back negative but a PCR test came back positive, said Justice, who was forced to postpone a State of the State address to the West Virginia legislature.Justice described feeling "extremely unwell" on Tuesday, and chief of staff Brian Abraham told the West Virginia Gazette Mail in an interview Wednesday that his symptoms were apparent.Justice, a Republican re-elected in 2020, has been a fervent advocate for vaccinations and booster doses throughout the pandemic, often using direct language when speaking to constituents about the benefits of inoculation."If you're out there in West Virginia, and you're not vaccinated today, what's the downside?" Justice said in July. "If all of us were vaccinated, do you not believe that less people would die? If you're not vaccinated, you're part of the problem rather than part of the solution."
Related video above: How West Virginia went from first to the worst in vaccination rates
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said he was feeling better on Thursday, two days after a COVID-19 diagnosis, according to a statement from the governor's office.
"Thankfully, I am feeling much better today," Justice said. "I desperately want to get out of this house and back to serving our state. I am not one to lay around."
The governor continues to experience mild symptoms and his monoclonal antibody treatment was received well, the statement said.
"Without question, the fact that I chose to get vaccinated and boosted saved my life, that's all there is to it. So, now more than ever, I strongly encourage all West Virginians to protect themselves and their families by getting vaccinated," Justice added.
The 70-year-old woke Tuesday morning with congestion and a cough, eventually developing a headache and fever, according to a statement Tuesday. By late afternoon, his blood pressure and heart rate were elevated and he had a high fever.
Results from a rapid test in the morning came back negative but a PCR test came back positive, said Justice, who was forced to postpone a State of the State address to the West Virginia legislature.
Justice described feeling "extremely unwell" on Tuesday, and chief of staff Brian Abraham told the West Virginia Gazette Mail in an interview Wednesday that his symptoms were apparent.
Justice, a Republican re-elected in 2020, has been a fervent advocate for vaccinations and booster doses throughout the pandemic, often using direct language when speaking to constituents about the benefits of inoculation.
"If you're out there in West Virginia, and you're not vaccinated today, what's the downside?" Justice said in July. "If all of us were vaccinated, do you not believe that less people would die? If you're not vaccinated, you're part of the problem rather than part of the solution."
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