CHARLESTON — It took nearly 25 days, but West Virginia finally hit a goal set by Gov. Jim Justice for receiving at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the Department of Health and Human Resources, nearly 67% of the state’s eligible population age 12 and older have at least one shot of the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

Justice had set a goal to reach a partial vaccination percentage of 65% by June 20, the state’s 158th birthday. Only 62.4% of the state’s population had received a first dose of the vaccine by the state’s birthday.

“Remember that number we were trying so hard to get to? We really, really tried hard to get there by our state’s birthday…we didn’t quite get there,” Justice said Tuesday during his coronavirus briefing at the State Capitol Building. “We’re at 66.8% of all the folks in West Virginians who are 12 and older who received their first shot.”

Last week, the state had more than 1 million West Virginians with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. As of Tuesday, more than 88.7% of seniors age 65 and older are partially vaccinated. Of those aged 50 and older, the percentage for partial vaccination is more than 81 percent.

Justice announced last week that state health officials were setting new goals for partial vaccine rates. The state wants to get to 90% for those age 65 and older and 85% for those age 50 and up.

“We’re going to change it again,” Justice said.

According to DHHR’s Tuesday update of the coronavirus dashboard, there are 971 active COVID-19 cases in the state. Active cases dropped to a low of 882 Friday, came back up to 1,006 Saturday, and dropped back down to the high 900s. The County Alert System map shows 49 counties in the green, five counties in yellow, and only one county, McDowell, in gold.

Even though active case numbers remain low, hospitalizations have crept back up, from 62 hospitalizations seven days ago to 80 hospitalizations as of Tuesday. ICU bed usage increased from 22 to 39 during that same time. COVID-19 deaths remain low, with five deaths since Friday, or one death per day.

State health officials continue to watch the delta/India variant, though the number decreased slightly – from 18 cases Friday to 17 cases Monday, remaining at 17 cases Tuesday. Dr. Clay Marsh, the state coronavirus czar, said he expects the delta variant to replace the United Kingdom variant as the dominant form of COVID-19 in the state. While all the available vaccines are effective at either blocking infection or serious illness from the delta variant, it is more contagious and could wreak havoc in communities with low vaccination rates.

“This is a time for all of us to pay attention to what is coming,” Marsh said. “This now is the most common form of COVID-19 in the United States…this is a different virus and as we look at the people who are affected, it’s the people who have not been vaccinated.”