Despite the Republican governor’s vocal support for vaccination rates are among the lowest in the US, leaving hospitals swamped.

West Virginia was once one of the leading US states in rolling out Covid-19 vaccinations. Now it is one of the least vaccinated, with the fastest-growing rate of infections in the country. Health systems are overwhelmed, with record numbers of patients in hospital, in intensive care units and on ventilators.

What happened?

West Virginia rushed to vaccinate those over the age of 65 and residents of long-term care facilities, reaching good levels of protection among those groups.

But reaching younger West Virginians has been much more of a challenge. Read more at The Guardian.