COVID vaccine live updates: Here’s what to know in South Carolina on Jan. 25
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccines in South Carolina. Check back for updates.
Cases surpass 379,000 as vaccine rollout continues
At least 379,775 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in South Carolina since March, and 5,920 have died, according to state health officials.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control on Monday reported 2,736 new COVID-19 cases, down from 3,450 reported the day before.
Five additional deaths were reported Monday.
As of Monday, more than 25% 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 2,201 people were hospitalized in South Carolina with the coronavirus on Monday.
As of Monday, South Carolina had received 632,100 total doses of COVID-19 vaccine and administered 281,277 doses, according to the DHEC.
York County Jail reports outbreak
At least 47 inmates and three detention officers at the York County Jail have tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Monday.
The entire jail was tested after an inmate tested positive on Jan. 18, York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said.
The 47 who tested positive are now in a 14-day quarantine in a single housing unit. Another 27 jailers and staff are also in quarantine after they were possibly exposed to the virus, The Rock Hill Herald reported.
Spokesperson Trent Faris said some of the inmates who tested positive are showing symptoms but others are asymptomatic. He said he doesn’t know how they contracted the virus.
“We may never be sure how the positive cases happened,” Faris said.
Myrtle Beach hospitals plan to give vaccinations 7 days a week
Tidelands Health and Conway Medical Center are working on plans to administer the coronavirus vaccine seven days a week as hospitals struggle to meet demand with a limited supply.
Tidelands has administered more than 5,300 doses and transferred another 2,000 to Conway Medical Center. Brian Argo, Chief Financial Officer at Conway Medical Center, said the extra doses have allowed the distribution site to stay open every day of the week.
There are more than 30,000 people on the waiting list for a vaccine appointment at Tidelands Health, Chief Operating Officer Gayle Resetar told the Myrtle Beach Sun News. Conway, meanwhile, has about 20,000 appointment requests.
Health officials also say it’s a struggle to provide vaccines while the number of COVID-19 cases spikes.
“It’s absolutely a crisis,” Resetar said. “It’s very, very challenging for the workforce.”
Grand Strand Health also announced Monday it will begin vaccinating adults ages 70 and older, the Sun News reported. Residents can make an appointment through the Center for Disease Control-issued Vaccine Administration Management Services account or on the hospital’s website.
Sheriff urges people to get tested after false positive
Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner tested positive for COVID-19 on Dec. 29, forcing him to quarantine for 10 days before he could take an antibody test.
But that test showed he had no antibodies for the virus in his system, The Island Packet reported.
“People need to take the opportunity to be tested and not be discouraged by the test results,” Tanner said. “Let your body be your guide.”
Tanner said he and his doctor believe the Dec. 29 test was a false positive. Though much of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office is scheduled to receive a vaccine or already got the first shot, Tanner warned against complacency during the pandemic.
“There may be light at the end of the tunnel, but we’re not at the end of the tunnel yet,” he told The Island Packet. “We have to keep our guard up.”
Nearly 2,300 small businesses receive grants
Nearly 2,300 small businesses received COVID-19 assistance grants through the state.
The S.C. Department of Administration last month finalized the $40 million in grants, which were funded by federal COVID-19 relief money. The grants ranged from $2,500 to $25,000.
The state legislature created the program last fall and designed it to give preference to minority-owned businesses, small businesses and businesses that had not received previous COVID-19 assistance. The program seems to have done that, The State reported Sunday.
A little more than a third of the applicants were minority-owned businesses, and nearly half of the businesses that received assistance were minority-owned. Businesses that had not received previous COVID-19 relief assistance made up 37% of grant recipients. Almost all of the money went to businesses with fewer than 15 employees, according to data from the Department of Administration.
The grants, however, weren’t enough to meet the needs of all businesses that applied for them. More than 9,600 small and minority-owned businesses applied for $213 million worth of federal funding
Gov. Henry McMaster wants to continue the COVID-19 relief grants for small businesses in next year’s state spending plan. He’s proposed setting aside $123 million for relief grants to be awarded by the Department of Commerce, The State reports.
DHEC board to determine vaccine allocation
The DHEC’s politically appointed governing board, instead of the department’s health experts, will determine how the state’s limited COVID-19 vaccine supplies should be allocated to counties.
Marshall Taylor, DHEC acting director, said last week that agency leaders were not comfortable deciding how to allocate doses across the state and asked the board to step in.
“Our board, they represent each of the congressional districts, and so they are out in those communities, and they have both rural communities in their districts and they have urban communities or counties in their districts,” Taylor said Thursday, according to The State. “And so our leadership team came together and said this is not a decision DHEC (agency officials) should make.”
The board is expected to make a decision Tuesday. Options include allocating vaccine doses to counties on a per capita basis or based on certain county health factors, Taylor said.
The agency’s goal is to set a baseline rate for each county by the week of Feb. 1.
Prisma no longer taking vaccination walk-ins
Prisma Health, South Carolina’s largest hospital system, will no longer take first coronavirus vaccine dose walk-ins at any of its Midlands locations starting Monday.
The hospital system said Saturday it’s now “extremely low” on doses and will cut back on vaccinations. It can only vaccinate people who schedule appointments and those who are due for their second dose.
Currently, only health care workers, emergency medical responders, people at least 70 years old or people at least 65 years old who are hospitalized are eligible to get vaccinated.
Prisma Health said it received only 25% of the vaccine supplies it requested from the state for the past week. It has requested 60,000 doses of the vaccine for this week.
“This is a national vaccine supply problem that is affecting the entire country,” Dr. Saria Saccocio, Prisma Health’s chief medical officer for Ambulatory Services and co-chair of the Prisma Health Vaccine Task Force, told The State.
This story was originally published January 25, 2021 at 6:48 AM.
