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ELKINS -- As active COVID-19 numbers continue to decline locally and more people get vaccinated in West Virginia, a return to normality might not be as far away as what was once thought, officials said.
Randolph County is currently as close to single digits for active cases as it's been since September, and vaccinations may become more readily available at different locations in the near future.
Local officials reported on Monday that there are just 11 active coronavirus cases in the county, and noted there are currently no patients hospitalized at Davis Medical Center with COVID-19.
"I remember (early in the pandemic) when I was fearful when it was up to 11, but I feel differently now about 11," Bonnie Woodrum, the Randolph Elkins Health Department's infectious disease specialist, said during Monday's Randolph County Office of Emergency Management COVID-19 update conference call. "And there are new guidelines out from the CDC for people who have been fully vaccinated. There are fewer precautions for them as far as being with other fully vaccinated people. So the more people we get vaccinated the better off we will be."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted all of the new guidelines on its website Monday morning.
"You still need to take precautions with people that have not been vaccinated," Woodrum said. "And there are precautions because we don't know yet about breakthrough illnesses or picking up some of the varieties and strains that are coming in now. So you need to still watch for symptoms if you've been exposed."
Woodrum also said that when the Johnson & Johnson vaccine becomes available to the area, residents may be able to access it at several different locations.
"From what I've heard, when the Johnson & Johnson comes it will probably go to pharmacies and maybe come into health centers such as Valley Health Care or Med Express, or maybe even physician offices," said Woodrum. "I look for it to target populations where you might have difficulty getting back for the second doses."
This week's Mass Vaccination Clinic at the Phil Gainer Community Center will be Thursday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. All of the vaccinations continue to be by appointment only.
"Our clinic will probably run late this week because we have a lot of follow-up vaccinations and second doses to give," Woodrum said. "We will also be getting quite a few first doses but it will be by appointment only. We are calling as many people as we can and the age has been dropped to 50 and over, but we are still trying to get our elderly population. It's also for 16 and over with underlying illness that might make them more susceptible. So if anyone knows any of those kids let us know and we will get them on the vaccination schedule."
There are currently 5,613 active coronavirus cases in West Virginia. For a second consecutive Monday, there were no COVID-19 deaths reported in the past 24 hours. A total of 217,592 people have been fully vaccinated in the state.