COVID-19 vaccine arrives in SC, nearly 43,000 doses expected by Wednesday
South Carolina received its first allotment of COVID-19 vaccine doses Monday and some state health care facilities have already started vaccinating front line medical staff, public health officials announced.
The state expects by Wednesday to receive nearly 43,000 doses of the vaccine, which received emergency use authorization late Friday, and between 200,000 and 300,000 doses by year’s end, according to the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The limited supply of vaccine, which must be kept at ultra-cold temperatures, will be distributed to 56 sites throughout the state by the end of the week in accordance with South Carolina’s vaccination plan, DHEC said.
Per the plan, front line medical workers and long-term care facility residents will be first in line to receive the vaccine, which requires two shots spaced 21 days apart.
“To reach our collective goal and stop the spread of COVID-19, we must attend to our frontline healthcare workers first,” DHEC interim public health director Brannon Traxler said in a statement. “Ensuring those responsible for treating our COVID-19 patients are the first to be vaccinated is one way of protecting our frontline healthcare workers so that they can continue to protect all of us.”
The workers in line to receive initial doses include nurses, physicians, respiratory therapists, laboratory and radiology technicians and other medical professionals treating COVID-19 patients, DHEC said.
Medical staff in correctional facilities and dialysis centers, home health and hospice workers, coroners and other health care workers at high risk of frequent exposure to COVID-19 will also be among the first groups to receive the vaccine.
Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday tweeted his appreciation for health care workers and reiterated they would receive vaccination priority.
“Our frontline healthcare workers have sacrificed so much for our people this year,” he said. “Now, we’ve received the first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine and medical professionals across the state will begin receiving doses soon. We are witnessing American ingenuity at its finest!”
A handful of health care workers at Conway Medical Center in Horry County were among the state’s first vaccine recipients.
The hospital announced Monday morning it had received a direct shipment of 975 doses from the federal government and said it expects to receive another allotment in two weeks, the Sun News reported.
By mid-afternoon more than 100 workers had signed up to be stuck, according to the hospital, which eventually expects to receive enough doses to vaccinate all employees.
Other hospital systems, including the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and the Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg, have announced plans to begin vaccinating staff members later this week.
RMC will take a phased approach to its distribution, with bedside hospital staff at highest risk getting dosed first, the health system said in a statement.
“The goal is to protect those on our team with the most risk of exposure and to limit accidental exposure to COVID-19 among vulnerable patient populations,” interim CEO Kirk Wilson said.
Once stuck, vaccine recipients are given a paper card with information on the vaccination they received, the date and location where they received it and a reminder of when they’ll need to return for the booster shot.
All vaccinations are also recorded in a database that both state and federal health officials can access to monitor administrations.
State health officials have said they hope by February to begin vaccinating health care workers not included in the plan’s initial phase, as well as emergency and law enforcement personnel, teachers and school staff, plant workers and people at increased risk for severe COVID-19 complications due to age or pre-existing conditions.
Vaccinations for the general public, which will occur after high-risk populations have been dosed, are still months away.
For that reason, state health officials are advising South Carolinians to continue wearing masks, keep safe distances from others and avoid indoor gatherings.
“We ask everyone to please be patient, wait your turn and listen to our public health officials,” state epidemiologist Linda Bell said Monday. “Doing this will allow public health officials to ensure the most vulnerable among us and those who keep us alive are vaccinated first.”
South Carolina, which has recorded more than 50,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past month amid a record-setting winter resurgence of the virus, reported another 2,364 confirmed cases and 11 deaths Monday.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 1:32 PM.