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ELKINS -- The second shipment of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was delivered to Randolph County officials late Monday afternoon and will be administered to more local front line workers, officials said.
The delivery was the second to the county and was a week behind schedule due to conflicts with the Christmas holiday.
"We got a shipment today, but it was only 30 doses," Bonnie Woodrum, the Randolph-Elkins Health Department's infectious disease specialist, said Monday. "It wasn't as much as we needed but we will be giving it to some of our first responders. It was actually the Week 2 shipment but the holiday put it off and it got to the state late."
Next week's shipment, which will be Week 3 of the vaccinations, will be administered to the rest of the county's first responders, and also some emergency service workers and state police troopers, Woodrum said.
"We don't know how many we will get next week, but we will go down the list and give it to whoever is up next," she said. "We are only getting small batches at a time right now because we have to use it within 120 hours. But I think we will get a regular shipment next week that will allow us to cover the first echelons."
Woodrum is also optimistic that the first batches of vaccine for the public will come sooner than many predict.
"I really wouldn't be surprised if we got to the public by sometime in February," she said. "But that's just a guess and not a prediction from anyone who knows."
As of Monday, there have been 60,875 vaccine doses delivered to West Virginia with 30,737 administered. There are currently 24,273 active COVID-19 cases in the Mountain State and the state has reported 1,263 COVID-related deaths.
With 47 new cases reported in Randolph County on Monday, the county's active case total has risen from 148 to165.
Despite COVID-19 surging across the United States, millions of Americans ignored travel warnings put forth by health officials and still ventured out and about during the Christmas holiday. And with another holiday coming up this weekend, one that traditionally features large gatherings of people, many health officials, including Woodrum, are concerned.
"With all the traveling that went on, it's only going to get worse," she said. "People have to take into consideration what they are doing. With the way things are going right now, you hoped that people would stay home."