CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice became one of the first top elected officials in the country to be vaccinated Monday, even though the state’s rollout is supposed to prioritize giving the highly sought-after vaccines to health care workers and people in long-term care centers.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said he would get a coronavirus shot on Monday, even though the state's rollout is supposed to prioritize giving the highly sought-after vaccines to health care workers and people in long-term care centers.

The 69-year-old Republican governor said he would receive a shot before cameras later Monday afternoon, which would make him one of the first top elected officials in the country to be vaccinated. Officials said they want to demonstrate their confidence in the vaccine.

“I’m all in,” Justice said at a news conference. “I want all West Virginians to know that I have all the faith that I can possibly have that this vaccine will work and that this vaccine is safe."

The White House had recently been planning to vaccinate top government officials, but officials reversed course Sunday after receiving criticism that they were cutting in line ahead of essential workers and nursing home patients who are awaiting their first doses. President Donald Trump tweeted that he was not scheduled to take the vaccine but looked “forward to doing so at the appropriate time."

In Utah, Gov. Gary Herbert, 73, and his soon-to-be successor have dispelled rumors that political leaders will receive vaccine favoritism. The 61-year-old Republican governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee, recently said he will take the shot when it is “available to the folks in my population sector." And the governors of Ohio, Montana, Nebraska and Washington similarly have said they will wait for their turn.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee “is not jumping ahead of healthcare workers,” a spokesperson told The Associated Press in an email Monday morning.

It could be months before the general public has access to a vaccine.

Justice's office did not respond to questions over whether other officials would also receive shots. The governor has regularly emphasized the need to get older residents vaccinated first.

“We're going to move at light speed to get you vaccinated,” Justice said, urging people to keep wearing masks.

West Virginia has struggled to stem outbreaks even as the severity of the virus's spread has forced most counties to close schools and youth sports. The number of people hospitalized for the virus in West Virginia hit a record 720 on Sunday, more than double the number from a month earlier.

A record 130 people died from the virus last week in West Virginia, up 15.5% from the previous week. The state's number of total deaths, 978, has doubled since early November.

The virus is confirmed to have infected at least 53,741 people in the state and killed 978.

Justice has rejected the idea of closing down businesses even as mask-wearing and testing has not controlled virus spread. He announced the state is now hoping to test all college students once a week.

Doses were first shipped to Kanawha and Monongalia counties and are expected to reach Berkeley, Cabell and Greenbrier counties on Tuesday.

Frozen vials of the vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and its German partner BioNTech continue to be shipped this week. West Virginia expects to receive tens of thousands of doses a week initially, ramping up in the future as Moderna looks to gain federal emergency use authorization for another vaccine in the days ahead.

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Follow AP coverage of the virus outbreak at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.

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Associated Press writers John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tennessee; Sophia Eppolito in Salt Lake City; Amy Beth Hanson in Helena, Montana; Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus, Ohio; Grant Schulte in Omaha, Nebraska; and Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington contributed to this report.