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WHILE MANY STATES ARE STRUGGLI TO GET SHOTS IN ARMS, WEST VIRGINIA, A STATE THAT USUALLY SCORES THE LOWEST IN HEALTH OUTCOMES FROM OBESITY TO DIABETES AND DRUG OVERDOSES IS NO THEY HAVE NEARLY 10% OF THEIR POPULATION VACCINATED, ONE OF THE HIGHEST RATES IN THE COUNTRY. I SPOKE WITH DR. MARSH, THE COVID CZAR. THE 10% VACCINATED, IS THAT ONE DOES, BOTH DOSES, WHAT DOES THAT REPRESENT? DR. MARSH: IN WEST VIRGINIA, WE ARE REALLY FOCUSED ON PUTTING VACCINES IN ARMS SO THAT AS BOTH -- THAT IS BOTH DOSES. SOLEDAD: WOW, WOW. SO EVEN GREATER THAN I THOUGHT. WEST VIRGINIA, I THINK MAYBE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE TO GETTING DOSES IN ARMS, AS YOU GUYS LIKE TO SAY, IS THAT YOU’RE A RURAL STATE. TALK TO ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU WERE ABLE TO DO TO MAKE YOUR VACCINATION PROGRAM SUCH A SUCCESS WITH THAT PARTICULAR OBSTACLE IN MIND. DR. MARSH: I THINK THE FIRST THING WE DID IS WE WERE VERY CLEAR ABOUT OUR INTENT, YOU KNOW, GOING FROM COMPLEX TO SIMPLE. AND WE REALLY DECIDED EARLY, THE GOVERNOR DID, THAT WE WANTED TO SAVE LIVES. PEOPLE OVER 70 MADE UP SEVENTY -- 77.5% OF OUR DEATHS. SO WE REALLY TARGETED THAT POPULATION TO BE ABLE TO VACCINATE. I THINK THAT’S BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL. SOLEDAD: YOU ALSO USED INDEPENDENT PHARMACIES, WHICH IS A DIFFERENT STRATEGY THAN SOME OTHER STATES HAVE HAD. WHY DID YOU DO THAT? AND WAS THAT KEY TO YOUR SUCCESS AS WELL? DR. MARSH: THE REPRESENTATIVE FROM OUR BOARD OF PHARMACY AND THE HEAD OF OUR LONG-TERM CARE ASSOCIATION TOLD US IF WE WANTED TO REACH OUR NURSING HOME POPULATION THE QUICKEST THAT WE NEED TO GO WITH THE OVER TWO HUNDRED PRIVATE AND COMMUNITY AND FAMILY OWNED PARMA SEES -- PHARMACIES IN WEST VIRGINIA THAT WERE IN ALL PARTS OF THE STATE. WE ENDED UP TALKING WITH OPERATION WORK SPEED AND DID NOT INITIALLY ACTIVATE THE FEDERAL PHARMACY PROGRAM BUT INSTEAD THIS NETWORK OF COMMUNITY PHARMACIES. SOLEDAD: SO HOW MANY DOSES HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO GIVE OUT AND -- I’VE HEARD YOU’RE STRETCHING SOME OF THE DOSES. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN EXACTLY? DR. MARSH: GENERALLY, WE’VE BEEN OVER 100% OF INJECTIONS AND ARMS VERSUS THE DOSES THAT WE RECEIVE BECAUSE WE KNEW EARLY IN THE PANDEMIC RESPONSE, BECAUSE OUR PHARMACISTS WERE HANDLING ALL OF OUR DOSES, THAT THE PFIZER VIALS, WHICH WERE AT LEAST INITIALLY THOUGHT TO HAVE 5 DOSES, ACTUALLY OFTENTIMES HAVE SIX. AND THE MODERNA VIALS, WHICH HAVE 10 DOSES, OFTENTIMES HAVE 11. SO WE’VE BEEN ABLE TO MAXIMIZE THE NUMBER OF DOSES THAT WE’VE BEEN ABLE TO GET OUT OF THE VIALS AND TO BE ABLE TO PUT IT IN THE ARMS OF OUR CITIZENS. SOLEDAD: WEST VIRGINIA IS NOT A VERY DIVERSE STATE. AND YET YOUR NUMBERS FOR DIVERSE PEOPLE WHO’VE BEEN VACCINATED ARE IMPRESSIVE, ARE HIGH. HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO DO THAT IN A STATE THAT, YOU KNOW, DOES NOT STAND OUT FOR ITS DIVERSITY? DR. MARSH: WEST VIRGINIA WAS RANKED BY THE KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION AS THE MOST VULNERABLE STATE. AND WE’VE DEEPLY INVOLVED OUR AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY AND TASK FORCE AND STARTED TO WORK WITH LEADERS IN THE FAITH BASED COMMUNITIES TO BE ABLE TO REACH ALL WEST VIRGINIANS AND TRY TO HELP PEOPLE FEEL SAFE. BECAUSE INITIALLY, TAKING THE VACCINE VACCINE HESITANCY WAS AN , ISSUE FOR US. BUT THAT SEEMS TO BE MUCH BETTER TODAY THAN IT WAS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE VACCINE RESPONSE. SOLEDAD: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE LEADERSHIP IN OTHER STATES WHO MIGHT SAY WEST VIRGINIA, SMALL STATE, 1.8 MILLION PEOPLE. WHAT CAN THEY TELL US ABOUT LEARNING ABOUT THE VACCINE? WHAT CAN YOU TELL THEM? DR. MARSH: GET SIMPLE AND CLEAR ON WHAT YOU’RE TRYING TO DO, MEASURE WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND UNDERSTAND YOUR OWN NEEDS. BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER, YOU KNOW, RALLY AROUND THE IDEA THAT WE’RE HERE TO HELP EACH OTHER. IT’S A VERY PERSONAL THING TO MANY OF US IN WEST VIRGINIA, AND THAT, TO ME IS THE SECRET SAUCE , OF HOW WE ARE PERFORMING WELL. SOLEDAD: