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Marsh: A new COVID vaccine coming this month

CHARLESTON — A Tyler County resident was among three people in West Virginia who died in the last week from the COVID-19 coronavirus, the Department of Health and Human Resources said.

The department in its weekly pandemic report reported the death of an 85-year-old woman from Tyler County and the deaths of a 75-year old woman from Jefferson County and a 78-year-old man from Berkeley County.

The death count since the pandemic started more than three years ago was 8,183 as of Wednesday, the department said.

The death of the Tyler County woman was at least the fifth person from the Mid-Ohio Valley confirmed in the last three weeks.

Four people from Jackson County died from the virus in the previous three weeks, according to the department.

Hospitalizations and cases are rising across the country, but far below the peak of the pandemic, Dr. Clay Marsh, coronavirus adviser for the state of West Virginia, said during Gov. Jim Justice’s weekly press briefing on Wednesday.

A new COVID vaccine will be available by the end of the month, Marsh said.

The updated shot is directed against the newest and most common forms of COVID-19 that are circulating, he said in a tape segment for the governor’s briefing on Wednesday.

“These forms are now from the omicron family still and a specific branch of that family called the XBB family,” Marsh said. “These vaccines are highly effective against this family, which is by far the most common form of COVID-19 that is infecting people today.”

The newest shot is important because the benefit from the past vaccines is about four to six months, he said.

Recommendations for people in the highest risk groups, such as those 65 and older or with immune deficiencies, will be clearer after a meeting with the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration  next week, he said.

“We are very much anticipating that for sure people in the highest risk groups will be recommended to get the vaccine,” Marsh said.

As fall approaches, vaccines and treatments are important for the flu and respiratory syncitial virus, he said. Fever, runny nose, coughing, a loss of taste and smell are among symptoms of the newest variants, he said.

“So if you get these symptoms and you’re over risk groups over 65 or you have immunocompromising illnesses or you have other illnesses, please test yourself,” Marsh said.

Marsh encouraged those who test positive to consider getting the antiviral medication Paxlovid.

“Paxlovid works really well in reducing the severity of illness,” Marsh said.

Starting at $3.92/week.

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