West Virginia Governor Jim Justice Says It Will Take A ‘Catastrophe’ For Unvaccinated Americans To Get Vaccinated

Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) recently said it would take a “catastrophe” for those who have so far refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine to change their minds and get vaccinated.

In an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Justice discussed the vaccination level in his state, noting that it is difficult to encourage young people to get vaccinated. 

ABC’s Martha Raddatz said, “Let’s go back to who’s not getting vaccinated. The statistics will show it’s poverty, race, and you just look at the map, it’s a lot of red states.”

Justice noted, “there’s some truth to that and everything because the red states probably have a lot of people that are very, very conservative in their thinking and they think, well, I don’t have to do that.”

He added, “But they’re not thinking right. When it really boils right down to it, they’re in a lottery to themselves. You know, we have a lottery that basically says, if you’re vaccinated, we’re going to give you stuff. Well, you’ve got another lottery going on and it’s the death lottery.”

Raddatz asked what would convince people who are more conservative to get vaccinated, to which Justice replied, “what would put them over the edge is an awful lot of people die. The only way that’s really going to happen is a catastrophe that none of us of want. And so we just got to keep trying though.”

Raddatz later discussed the United States vaccination levels with White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients, asking, “what does it mean for the nation if we have all these unvaccinated people who say they’re just not going to get it?”

Zients did not give a direct answer, but rather said the administration will continue to “drive up the vaccination rate.”

“If you’re vaccinated, you’re protected. If you’re not vaccinated, you’re not protected. And you’re putting yourself at risk and your loved ones and those around you at risk,” he said. “So, the important thing is for people to get vaccinated as soon as possible. When you’re not vaccinated, you need to wear a mask and take these public safety precautions and get vaccinated as soon as possible.”

The vaccination rate in the United States has not accelerated in the way that the Biden administration had originally hoped as states reopen and Americans take their health considerations into their own hands. 

The Biden administration did not hit its previously set July 4 vaccination goal. In May, Biden announced that he was setting a goal “for 70% of the U.S. adult population to have one vaccine shot and 160 million U.S. adults to be fully vaccinated by July 4 so that life can start to look closer to normal,” per a White House fact sheet.

According to the CDC, as of early Monday morning, 150,312,726 adults in the U.S. were fully vaccinated and 58.2% of the adult population was fully vaccinated. The numbers for adults who had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine were slightly higher, with 67.1% of the adult population reaching that mark and 173,194,895 adults having received one dose. The numbers still fell short of Biden’s previously set goal for the nation.