Morgan County has the second lowest vaccination rate in the state of West Virginia.
Only Mingo County in the southern part of the state has a lower vaccination rate.
According to the state’s vaccination database, Morgan County’s vaccination rate is 312 per thousand compared to Mingo County’s 291 per thousand.
Morgan County has administered at least one dose of the vaccine to 35.1 percent of those 12 years old or older compared to a state vaccination rate of 71.9 percent.
We rang up the Morgan County Health Department to ask why the Morgan County rate is so low.
“I don’t know, you would have to ask them,” the woman who answered the phone said. “They choose to not to get vaccinated. I see it every day.”
This morning, the Morgan County Health Department put Morgan County in the red meaning a high rate of transmission with 55 new cases of Covid reported last week.
In August 2020, there were 11 cases of Covid in Morgan County.
So far in August 2021, there have been 135 cases – more than ten times as many as last August.
Dr. Matt Hahn is a family doctor who practices in Hancock, Maryland and sees patients from Morgan County, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
“We are consistently vaccinating a good number of people, but also have a very significant number of eligible patients who decline to be vaccinated,” Dr. Hahn said this morning.
The two closest places to get the vaccine for free for residents of Morgan County is at Walgreens in Berkeley Springs or at Dr. Hahn’s office, River Bend Family Medicine in Hancock, Maryland.
Governor Jim Justice has set up a lottery so that those who get vaccinated are eligible to win prizes every week.
The prizes include: luxury sports car, custom fishing or pontoon boat, $150,000 toward the wedding of your dreams, free gas for ten years, WVU football or basketball season ticket package for two, Marshall football or basketball season ticket package for two, 2021-2022 season passes for two to a ski resort in West Virginia, premium ATV or side by side, top of the line zero turn lawn mower or for those those aged 12-25 – five full four-year scholarships to any public institution in West Virginia.
Once vaccinated, you can register for the weekly drawings.
Beginning today, drawings will be held every week until the first week in October.
The entry deadline is Sunday, October 3, 2021, at 11:59:59 p.m.
You can register at doitforbabydog@wv.gov.