COVID-19 vaccine live updates: Here’s what to know in South Carolina on March 7
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccines in South Carolina. Check back for updates.
New cases continue to fall
At least 449,977 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in South Carolina and 7,744 have died since last March, according to state health officials.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control on Sunday reported 732 new COVID-19 cases, down from 792 reported the day before.
Thirty-two deaths were reported Sunday.
At least 579 people were hospitalized with the coronavirus in South Carolina as of Sunday.
South Carolina has reached low levels of community spread of the coronavirus by federal health officials’ standards.
Of the more than 24,000 people tested, 4.4% were positive as of Sunday, the state health department said. The CDC says 5% or less means there’s low level of community spread.
More than 1.2 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine had been administered in South Carolina as of Sunday.
Lexington suspends mask mandate
The town of Lexington has suspended its emergency order requiring mask use in public, The State reported Sunday.
Lexington Town Council voted Friday to suspend the ordinance requiring masks in retail businesses — including grocery stores, box stores and pharmacies — within town limits, marking the second time the town has suspended its mask requirement since the pandemic started.
The suspension of the ordinance comes after Gov. Henry McMaster issued an executive order to no longer require people to wear face masks inside state-owned buildings or restaurants when not eating or drinking.
Town council members said they still encourage residents to follow recommendations related to COVID-19 from the state health department and the governor’s office.
Meanwhile, similar mask mandates in West Columbia and Columbia were renewed last week.
West Columbia City Council extended its emergency ordinance requiring face coverings in some establishments for 61 days. It will be reevaluated again on May 1. Columbia’s emergency ordinance will also be revisited in 61 days.
DHEC committee’s secret vaccine meetings violated law: Attorney
A South Carolina advisory committee that helped finalize the state’s coronavirus vaccine distribution plan met 12 times last year without public notice and without recording official meeting minutes — and a leading expert on the S.C. Freedom of Information Act says it violated state law.
Jay Bender, an attorney for the S.C. Press Association, said the Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Vaccine Advisory Committee, or VAC, “consistently” violated FOIA rules over a three-month span in 2020 as it didn’t post public meeting notices, meet in public or record official meeting minutes.
This happened as the committee’s volunteer members offered feedback to the state health department on which South Carolinians should be prioritized for the vaccines, according to unofficial notes from the committee’s then-weekly meetings that DHEC provided to The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
“Like everything else done in secret, it undermines the credibility of the organization,” Bender said.
Laura Renwick, a DHEC spokesperson, wrote in a statement that the department formed the VAC after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encouraged states to organize “stakeholder groups” to help craft state-specific recommendations for coronavirus vaccine planning and that the department thought the committee would meet for only six to eight weeks.
“Because the VAC was initially formed as a short-lived informal stakeholder group, formal meeting procedures weren’t adopted,” Renwick wrote.
She said the department determined in late 2020 that “VAC could be a public body subject to the public notice requirements.” The agency started to post online notices for the VAC’s 2021 meetings, stream its meetings, publish its agendas and document its minutes.
USC to ramp up on-campus vaccinations
Starting Monday, the University of South Carolina will ramp up vaccination efforts on campus, The State reported.
The move comes as the state nears Phase 1B of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout on March 8. In the new phase, many more South Carolinians will become eligible for vaccination, including teachers, people 55 years of age and up, and people between 16 and 64 with pre-existing health conditions.
That means much of the university’s staff will be able to get vaccinated. However, most students won’t qualify unless they have an underlying condition.
This story was originally published March 7, 2021 at 10:45 AM.
