This month Governor Jim Justice announced that the statewide mask mandate will be lifted as of June 20th, 2021, also known as West Virginia Day. Justice says he plans to lift the mandate due to children 12 and up now being able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. “We’re going to call this our ‘Call to Arms’ initiative,” Justice said. “We need the arms to put shots into. So this is West Virginia’s ‘Call to Arms,’ and we’re going to absolutely target and achieve these things, but we need your help.” 

June 20th will mark the 158th anniversary of West Virginia’s entry into the union. In his press release, Justice said “It (the lifting of the mandate) just coincides perfectly with the celebration of this absolutely incredible State on its birthday.” 

Justice does remind those who disagree with the lifting of the mandate that it will still be their choice as to whether or not they wear a mask. According to governor.wv.gov, “the State of West Virginia has now administered 1,311,329 vaccine doses out of a total allotment of 1,561,480 doses from the federal government; an overall administration rate of 84.0%.”