Prisma hospital no longer taking walk-ins because of dwindling COVID vaccine supplies
South Carolina’s largest hospital system, Prisma Health, said Saturday it is “now extremely low” on supply of the coronavirus vaccine and has to cut back the number of people it will vaccinate.
Starting Monday, Prisma Health will no longer take first dose walk-ins at its vaccination site in Columbia on National Guard Road near Williams-Brice Stadium or any Midlands locations.
Prisma can only vaccinate people who schedule appointments and those who are due for their second dose, the hospital system said in a statement.
Right now only health care workers, emergency medical responders, people 70 years old or older in the community or people 65 years old or older who are hospitalized are eligible to get vaccinated, according to the Department of Health and Environmental control.
People can schedule vaccinations by visiting DHEC’s website or calling 1-855-472-3432.
“We are asking the public for their patience, as right now the number of individuals who want a vaccine far, far exceeds the number of vaccine doses we have received from public officials,” said Dr. Saria Saccocio, Prisma Health’s chief medical officer for Ambulatory Services and co-chair of the Prisma Health Vaccine Task Force. “We have no excess inventory of vaccine.”
Prisma Health received only 25% of that vaccine supplies it requested from the state for the past week, it said. Prisma has requested 60,000 doses of the vaccine for next week.
“This is a national vaccine supply problem that is affecting the entire country,” Saccocio said.
Prisma said its vaccine supply has “has dwindled tremendously, due to the rapid efficiency and the huge community demand of those aged 70 and older.”
Prisma’s Greenville vaccination site is also only taking scheduled appointments and people needing second doses.
In its statement, the hospital system said, “Since the COVID-19 vaccine was made available mid-December, Prisma Health has administered the most vaccinations of any health provider in South Carolina, with 68,867 doses as of Jan. 22, which is 25% of all the Pfizer vaccine doses received in the state. Because of the rapid expansion and the huge community demand of those eligible to be vaccinated, Prisma Health’s vaccine supply is now extremely low.”
The hospital system in set to vaccinate nearly 10,000 people a day, it said.
State health officials have a system of phases that provide a structure for who can get vaccinated and when. Right now, people in phase 1a are being vaccinated. Health officials will dictate when people in phase 1b, which includes front-line essential workers like teachers and others, can be vaccinated. Health officials plan for people in phase 1b to get vaccinated starting in the spring, according to DHEC.
In Beaufort, a hospital had to cancel more than 6,000 appointments because of a vaccine shortage, The Island Packet reported.
The New York Times reported on the nationwide vaccine supply issue, saying “Inoculation sites are canceling thousands of appointments in one state after another as the nation’s vaccines roll out through a bewildering patchwork of distribution networks, with local officials uncertain about what supplies they will have in hand.”
This story was originally published January 23, 2021 at 4:32 PM.