CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – West Virginia Governor Jim Justice continues to urge younger West Virginians to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to stop the spread of the virus in the Mountain State.

Justice says West Virginians between 16-35, approximately 380,000 people, are not getting vaccinated as quickly as health officials would like. As a way to motivate those in that age group to get the shot, the governor says the state will give a $100 savings bond to every West Virginian between 16-35 who gets vaccinated.

According to Justice, the funding for these savings bonds has been vetted through money the state has received from the CARES Act.

The governor says the incentive branches from his “Beat 588” goal, which works to urge the approximately 588,000 West Virginians who have not started the vaccination process, 40% of the eligible population, to get the shot. The majority of that group is in the 16-35 age range. Justice says increasing the number of West Virginians getting the vaccine is the best way to stop the virus from spreading throughout the Mountain State.

“I have said it a thousand times over – we have got to get to a situation to where we shut this thing down,” Justice said.

According to the governor, if 78% of those in that age group, approximately 275,000 people, get vaccinated, the state will have vaccinated 71% of the eligible population. Approximately 1,470,000 West Virginians 16 and older are eligible to get vaccinated against the virus. As of today, Monday, April 26, the state is at 52% of the eligible population vaccinated.

Justice also says the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine can now be used again in the Mountain State.