Teachers Younger Than 50 Will Have To Wait For Vaccine

Teachers younger than 50 in W.Va. may be waiting a bit to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

On Friday, Gov. Jim Justice announced that though teachers are considered essential, those under the age of 50 will not be given the vaccine before the state’s elderly general public.

That means teachers younger than 50 will not be vaccinated before citizens 65 and older.

More than 135,000 West Virginians over the age of 65 have already joined the waitlist for their vaccine on the Everbridge platform, and teachers will be vaccinated after them.

COVID-19 Czar Clay Marsh said 97 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have involved people 50 years old and older. That is the reason the COVID-19 Task Force decided to focus on older people before vaccinating people in lower risk groups.

Teachers who received their first dose will get their second dose on time at the location they got their original vaccine, Justice announced Friday. That will include vaccination clinics at schools for teachers, but this will not be offered for school employees who will be covered in the next round of vaccinations.