West Virginia governor implores residents to get vaccinated for COVID-19: 'A bunch of' patients 'will die'

West Virginia, a deep red state that former President Donald Trump carried by 39% in the 2020 presidential election, has more than its share of anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers and coronavirus deniers — and the state is being hit hard by the United States' current COVID-19 surge, which is being driven largely by the highly infectious Delta variant. But conservative West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, instead of pandering to anti-vaxxers, is urging results of his state to get vaccinated for COVID-19.

WDTV, a CBS-affiliated television station in West Virginia, reports, "Gov. Jim Justice, on Monday, continued his crusade to increase the number of West Virginians getting the COVID-19 vaccine, as the state set a new record for virus hospitalizations. Justice reported 852 hospitalizations, 267 people in the ICU and 164 on ventilators — all pandemic highs. Those numbers during the first week of July were 52, 17 and six, respectively."

The 70-year-old Justice warned, "A bunch of those will die."

Although Justice is urging West Virginia residents to get vaccinated for COVID-19, WDTV reported, he remains opposed to vaccine mandates.