Coronavirus vaccine live updates: Here’s what to know in South Carolina on Jan. 19
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in South Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases surpass 357,000
At least 357,508 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in South Carolina since March, and 5,673 have died, according to state health officials.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control on Tuesday reported 2,570 new COVID-19 cases, down from 2,946 reported the day before. Tuesday marks the lowest daily total of new cases in two weeks.
Eleven additional deaths were reported Tuesday.
As of Tuesday, 23.9% of COVID-19 tests were positive. Health officials have said that number should be closer to 5% to control the spread of the virus.
At least 2,353 were hospitalized with the coronavirus as of Tuesday.
Notorious killer dies of COVID in prison
Marcellus Pierce, behind bars for his involvement in the infamous 1984 kidnapping and killing of a University of South Carolina nursing student, has died in state prison due to COVID-19 at the age of 73, officials said.
Pierce was one of three men convicted for the rape and murder of Bobbi Rossi, but seen as the mastermind behind it.
Many in the Midlands were shaken after the 20-year-old woman, from a prominent family, was abducted in a parking lot at Columbia’s Woodhill Mall — now the Shoppes at Woodhill. A large-scale search was launched and Rossi’s body was found three days later.
Pierce was the last of the three men to die. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier this month and ultimately died in the infirmary of the Lee Correctional Institution.
“I feel relieved,” Bobbi’s mother, Anne-Marie Rossi told a reporter. “He would have been up again for parole in November.”
McMaster blames hospitals for slow vaccine rollout
Gov. Henry McMaster said South Carolina hospitals are at fault for the slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccine in the state, The Sun News reported.
“We have got to use every single dose of this vaccine that comes into the state and is not being done,” McMaster said, threatening to put an executive order in place for hospitals that aren’t moving fast enough.
McMaster’s words come a day after the state’s top health official, Dr. Brannon Traxler, said the federal government is not sending enough vaccine doses to meet demand.
Horry County hospitals echoed Traxler’s sentiment.
“At this moment, the only limiting factor is the availability of vaccine from the government,” according to a Saturday news release from Tidelands Health. “Like all South Carolina hospitals, we have been told to expect less vaccine — not more — in the coming weeks.”
South Carolina has received nearly 318,000 doses, as of Monday, and had administered 163,800.
Lexington hospital bans visitors due to COVID surge
With coronavirus cases surging, Lexington Medical Center is banning people from visiting patients, whether they have COVID-19 or not, The State reported.
There are some exceptions under the ban, which goes into effect Tuesday.
For example, non-COVID patients can have one visitor in the emergency room, as long as it doesn’t reach capacity.
Other exceptions are made for surgeries and births.
Newberry County sheriff hospitalized with COVID
After he and his wife tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster has been hospitalized due to the virus, The State reported.
“This stuff is no joke. It is for real,” Foster told The State Tuesday. “I have had a tough go.”
Foster has been in the hospital since last week, where he said he is getting good medical care.
He added that despite his condition, he is keeping close tabs on his office, performing as many duties as he can given the circumstances.
“I am in a hospital and not well, but there are a whole lot more worse off,” Foster said.
Foster went on to reiterate the seriousness of the virus, asking people to listen to experts and ignore conspiracies on social media and elsewhere that are downplaying the pandemic.
“It is just the nonsense that it is not real or that bad, and it revolves around one political view or the other,” Foster said. “It ain’t no politics here. (COVID-19) is very real to me.”
Vaccine supply not sufficient, health official says
South Carolina’s allotment of COVID-19 vaccine doses is “not sufficient” to meet its increasing demand, DHEC’s interim public health director, Dr. Brannon Traxler, said during a news conference Monday.
Traxler’s comments came days after the state expanded vaccine eligibility to seniors at least 70 years old.
Hospitals were hoping to ramp up vaccinations but were informed that they are only set to get 20% to 25% of the doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine they requested for this week.
Now, providers must push back vaccination appointments because they don’t have enough doses.
Beaufort Memorial Hospital says it must cancel more than 6,000 vaccination appointments through March 30, according to a press release issued Friday. The hospital placed an order for 2,000 does of the Pfizer vaccine to be delivered early this week, but was notified Friday it will receive just 450 doses.
Hilton Head Hospital and Coastal Carolina Hospital on Monday said they had canceled about 300 appointments for people wanting a coronavirus vaccine. Appointments scheduled for before noon Wednesday will be rescheduled.
Both Horry County hospitals offering the COVID-19 shot to seniors have said more people want the vaccine than they have doses to give.
“At this moment, the only limiting factor is the availability of vaccine from the government. Like all South Carolina hospitals, we have been told to expect less vaccine — not more — in the coming weeks,” Tidelands Health said in a news release over the weekend.
York County inmate tests positive
At inmate at York County jail has tested positive for COVID-19, officials with the sheriff’s office said Monday.
It’s unclear how the person, who has been in the jail for eight months, contracted the virus while in custody awaiting trial, officials say.
A second inmate has shown symptoms but has not tested positive.
“With all of the precautions we’ve had in place since the beginning of the pandemic, it is unclear how this person who has been with us for so long became infected with the virus,” Sheriff Kevin Tolson said. “My priority as sheriff is the safety and well being of everyone in the community, which includes our inmate population under my care.”
Beaufort County class moves to remote learning
A class at Whale Branch Elementary School has moved to remote learning after 17 members of the elementary and middle school began quarantining.
They are quarantining “as a result of a COVID-19 case outside of the school buildings,” district spokesperson Candace Bruder told The Island Packet. They were considered close contacts of someone who tested positive for the virus.
Seven other students are learning remotely “out of an abundance of caution.” The class will meet in person again on Jan. 25.
The school district has reported its 600th case of the virus since Sept. 28, a 245-case increase over the 11 days since students returned for full-time, in-person classes after winter break.
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 6:49 AM.
