West Virginia health officials discuss end of COVID Public Health Emergency

Dr. Lee Smith, health officer for the Monongalia County Health Department, said his office has been fielding calls from residents with questions about the changes.

“Everybody wants to know, ‘How it will impact me personally?’” he said. “People want to know, ‘Well, if I’m Medicare, what is going to get paid for in terms of testing and vaccines?’”

Changes to SNAP are not expected to impact mothers, infants or children, Smith said.

According to information from the DHHR, work requirement for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Able Bodied Adults Without Dependents will resume statewide starting July 1. SNAP is a program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered by DHHR’s Bureau for Family Assistance.

The work requirement impacts SNAP recipients ages 18-49 without children or other qualifying dependents and who lack an identified condition that would prevent them from participating in a qualifying work, volunteer or education activity.

All potentially impacted SNAP recipients will receive a letter in mid-May with more information. Those who believe they should be exempted from the work requirement are encouraged to speak with their caseworker.

Caseworkers can also provide referrals to the SNAP Employment & Training program, which can help meet the work requirement through job placement and training.

The DHHR’s Pandemic EBT program will end Thursday for children “in childcare,” Smith said.

“If you have a child in childcare and you’ve been given EBT credits, those go away,” he said. “Then for children not in childcare but in school, those benefits will continue throughout the summer.”

Chad Bundy, executive director of the Harrison-Clarksburg Health Department, said the end of the Public Health Emergency means COVID-19 has transitioned from a pandemic to an endemic.

“The good news is [we] go back to a health care system as it was operating prior to COVID,” he said. “It seems like it was a very long time ago before that was in place.”

When the virus first emerged in the early 2020, very little was known about it or its effects, Bundy said.

“This thing was called a ‘novel’ virus on the front end because we didn’t know what it was going to do,” he said. “That is no longer the case. We have a lot of research that says what it’s going to do, how it’s going affect and who it’s going to affect as far as the population.”

COVID-19 vaccines will remain free and available to the public after the end of the Public Health Emergency, Bundy said.

“We will have the vaccine available for the consumers for the immediate future,” he said. “That could change, but it’s not changing — to my knowledge — as of May 11. We’ll have it here, or you can go to your pharmacy and those types of places.”

The end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency will not result in any operational changes at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, according to Sean McGinty, public affairs specialist.

“LAJVAMC is currently basing its operational stance off the Veterans Health Administration COVID-19 Operational Plan, following the rules in place for the community transmission rates compiled within the VA National Surveillance Tool: Health Protection Level Updates,” McGinty said in an email to WV News. “Due to our local area’s COVID Health Protection Level remaining in the ‘Medium’ status, we will continue to ask all veterans, visitors and employees to wear masks inside of our facilities, and employ active screening at each of our facilities entrances.”

However, the medical center does plan to release an updated COVID-19 Operational Plan “which may affect LAJVAMC’s operational stance,” McGinty said.

“The date for the release of the new operational plan is currently unknown,” he said.

Even after the Public Health Emergency is over, residents are encouraged to remain current on their recommended COVID-19 vaccines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently updated their COVID-19 vaccination guidance, according to West Virginia COVID-19 Czar Dr. Clay Marsh.

The agencies have “simplified” the recommended vaccine schedule, Marsh said in a video message played during one of Gov. Jim Justice’s recent administration briefings.

“For children 6 years and older and adults, the CDC and FDA have agreed that having a single Omicron COVID-19 shot is the regimen now as the primary shot,” he said. “The new guidance is that for people who are more than four months from the last Omicron COVID-19 shot, then people who are over 65 are eligible for a second Omicron COVID-19 shot. People who are immunocompromised ... are eligible two months after their last COVID-19 Omicron shot. “