West Virginia will end its mask mandate when vaccination numbers increase, but the specific plan will not be announced until the end of the week.
Face covering mandates will end when the state hits a certain percentage of its eligible population vaccinated, Gov. Jim Justice announced in a news conference Wednesday. He declined to give the specific number, but said he will speak with state health officials and make a decision before his Friday news conference.
The governor said West Virginia would “be on easy street” if the state could get 85% of its population vaccinated, but that he plans to end the mask mandate “way before we get to that.”
“It is something that we all will celebrate getting rid of and will do that absolutely right upon the recommendation of our medical community,” Justice said.
Justice said West Virginia is “close to whipping this thing and we’ve got this thing on the run,” but that more people between the ages of 16 and 35 need to get vaccinated. The governor is issuing $100 savings bonds to anyone in that age range who gets a vaccine.
As of the most recent update, nearly 49% of eligible West Virginians have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine and 41% have been fully vaccinated. The state’s older population has higher numbers. 72.3% of those aged 65 or older have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 64.6% have been fully vaccinated.
The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services last updated its numbers at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
