Hundreds get COVID vaccine at ‘double secret’ vaccination clinic at state fairgrounds
South Carolina’s health department held an unpublicized mass vaccination clinic Friday at the state fairgrounds in Columbia that drew hundreds of people who waited in their cars for hours to secure doses of the scarce COVID-19 vaccine.
“We heard about it this morning when a friend texted us to say she had heard that DHEC was running the vaccination program at the fairgrounds for people over 70,” said Jay Bender, an attorney who sometimes represents the South Carolina Press Association and The State newspaper.
A spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, which did not promote the clinic, confirmed late Friday that the agency had held a drive-through vaccination event at the state fairgrounds Friday.
Spokeswoman Laura Renwick initially said the event was not open to the public and was intended for pre-scheduled first responders, but later clarified that some people without appointments received vaccinations. DHEC ended up vaccinating approximately 600 people during the clinic Friday, she said.
Bender, who described the event as the state health agency’s “double secret vaccination program,” said he, his wife and a neighbor hopped in his truck Friday and drove over to the fairgrounds after hearing about the clinic. He and his wife had been scheduled to get their first doses in early February in the Charleston area, but jumped at the opportunity to get vaccinated closer to home Friday. They waited in line for about three hours before reaching the vaccination station, Bender said.
When they got there, the trio rolled down their windows and hung their arms out so a nurse could swab and vaccinate them. Afterward, they received slips of paper certifying their vaccination with the Moderna vaccine and were directed to wait in another line for 15 minutes to ensure that none experienced an adverse reaction.
“The shot did not hurt at all,” Bender said.
Bud Ferillo, a public relations executive, also heard about the event through word of mouth. A friend told his wife who “ordered me over here to take advantage of it,” Ferillo said by phone Friday, during his nearly five-hour wait to get the vaccine.
“She knows that I’m signed up for some time in March or April, but I’m happy to have it today,” he said. “The sooner the better.”
Clinic not promoted to public
DHEC not only did not advertise the vaccination clinic in advance, its interim public health director did not mention it Friday when asked directly why the agency had not yet held mass vaccination events at places like the state fairgrounds.
“DHEC is working on various sites, with that being one great example to develop drive-through clinics at those locations,” Dr. Brannon Traxler said on a call with media members that was held while the clinic was occurring.
When The State independently confirmed the clinic and asked the agency about it, Renwick said the event wasn’t open to people without appointments.
After being informed that multiple members of the public without appointments had reported receiving doses, Renwick clarified that some people without appointments had gotten vaccinated.
“The agency intended for this pilot clinic to be by appointment-only, consistent with the state’s vaccine rollout model to prevent long lines,” she said.
Renwick said in an email Saturday that DHEC had not publicly advertised the event for fear it would cause unscheduled people to show up at the site and wait in line for hours, only to be told that no more doses were available.
“We’ve seen that type of situation play out in other states in recent weeks, and the goal was to avoid that scenario in South Carolina,” she said. “We’re happy that 600 people received their shots yesterday and we’ll use this pilot clinic as a model for logistical improvements for when mass vaccination clinics can be held based on ample supply of vaccine.”
Renwick didn’t say why the agency permitted people without appointments to get vaccinated at Friday’s appointment-only event.
National Guard assistance
As of Jan. 13, South Carolina residents who are 70 or older are eligible to receive the vaccine, regardless of pre-existing conditions. Both Bender and Ferillo are in their 70s, but neither are first responders, the focus of Friday’s clinic, and neither had appointments.
“They asked us when we got in if we had an appointment,” Bender said. “We said we didn’t have one and just got in line.”
He said clinic workers told him that a similar event had been held Thursday for first responders and that another mass vaccination event might occur Saturday, though not at the fairgrounds.
DHEC did not confirm either event.
Bender said the clinic workers, which included DHEC employees and members of the National Guard, were very professional and that, despite the long wait, the event was well-run.
When people waiting in line needed to use the bathroom, he said clinic workers would escort them to on-site portable toilets and hold their spot while they were away.
“I can’t say enough good things about the National Guard people and the DHEC people,” Bender said. “They handled the whole thing with skill and grace.”
While impressed by the people on the ground, he said he’s concerned with how DHEC officials are managing the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
The fact he had to act on an unverified tip and wait in line for hours on the chance he might receive a vaccine was troubling, albeit not surprising, Bender said.
“I think it’s just entirely consistent with the way the whole thing has been done from the federal government on down,” he said. “There is no plan, there is no program and it’s catch-as-catch-can.”
Vaccine demand outstrips supply
DHEC said it plans to hold more appointment-only drive-through clinics where Phase 1a individuals can get vaccinated when the COVID-19 vaccine is more widely available.
Renwick said such events, once finalized, would be displayed on the agency’s vaccine locator map.
South Carolina currently ranks last among states in the per capita amount of vaccine it has received from the federal government, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nearly 150,000 South Carolinians have received COVID-19 vaccinations to date, according to DHEC data.
DHEC officials couldn’t explain why the state’s vaccine distribution rate was so low and said Friday they are in communication with the CDC to ensure they are receiving the appropriate number of doses.
South Carolina, which has received about 60,000 doses weekly during the first month of vaccine distribution, already has used or earmarked for use more than 100% of its available vaccine, health officials said.
Any hopes the state might be able to grow its vaccine stockpile in the near future were dashed this week when health officials learned they would be shipped only 20% to 25% of the doses hospitals had requested for next week.
The South Carolina Hospital Association said in a statement Friday that it had learned that hospitals would next week receive significantly less vaccine than they had requested.
“The state expects to receive the same amount of Pfizer vaccine next week that we have been getting, but hospital requests this week totaled four times that amount,” the SCHA said.
This story was originally published January 16, 2021 at 9:06 AM with the headline "Hundreds get COVID vaccine at ‘double secret’ vaccination clinic at state fairgrounds."