Kanawha County, West Virginia’s largest, quickly earmarked most of its initial allotment of J&J doses for the homeless and the homebound. The durable and easy-to-transport shot “opens us up to a part of the state that was pretty much closed to us,” said Clay Marsh, West Virginia’s Covid-19 czar and executive dean for health sciences at West Virginia University. In addition to requiring just one dose, the J&J vaccine doesn’t require freezing.
It’s the latest chapter in an unlikely success story under Marsh’s leadership. At the pandemic’s beginning, the Kaiser Family Foundation found more West Virginians were at risk of serious illness from Covid-19 than anywhere else in the country. Among adults, 49% were in the danger zone either because of advanced age or underlying conditions. The state routinely ranks among the worst for obesity, diabetes, and smoking rates. More people per capita die of opioid overdoses than in any other state.
Yet thanks to a quick repurposing of West Virginia’s National Guard, well-established local pharmacies with strong community ties, and a robust telephone hotline, the state quickly became second in per-capita inoculations, behind Alaska. It’s now in the top five for its share of fully vaccinated residents as other states have started to catch up.
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