SC’s unvaccinated residents account for more than 94% of new COVID cases, study finds
The vast majority of South Carolinians being infected with COVID-19 and suffering severe complications have not been vaccinated, health officials said Wednesday.
A state Department of Health and Environmental Control analysis of 1,635 COVID-19 cases over a two-week period in June found that more than 94% of new cases were diagnosed in unvaccinated people, assistant state epidemiologist Jane Kelly said.
Of the 92 reported coronavirus cases between June 1 and June 14 that required hospitalization, 83 of those individuals had not been fully vaccinated, and all 11 people who died of COVID-19 over that span were unvaccinated, she said.
“The overwhelming majority of people who are continuing to get COVID-19 and who are getting hospitalized and dying from this disease are those who are not fully vaccinated,” Kelly said Wednesday during a statewide media briefing. “I can’t think of a more impactful point to make that would encourage someone who hasn’t yet received their shots to do so right away.”
DHEC’s findings mirror those in other states where nearly all new COVID-19 cases and virtually all deaths from the virus occur in unvaccinated people.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Sunday on “Meet the Press” that more than 99% of U.S. residents who died from COVID-19 in June were not fully vaccinated.
“No vaccine is perfect,” Fauci said. “But when you talk about the avoidability of hospitalization and death ... it’s really sad and tragic that most all of these are avoidable and preventable.”
Kelly echoed the infectious disease doctor’s point Wednesday, calling COVID-19 a “vaccine-preventable disease,” and encouraging South Carolinians to roll up their sleeves.
“We had vaccines available and we could have helped to save their lives if they had been fully vaccinated,” she said of the 11 unvaccinated residents who died from COVID-19 during the first two weeks of June.
As of Thursday, only 43% of eligible South Carolina residents are fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, one of the lowest rates in the nation. While COVID-19 case rates are still relatively low in South Carolina, the state’s poor vaccination rate leaves it susceptible to an outbreak, Kelly said.
That’s especially true given the rise of the highly transmissible Delta variant, which now makes up more than 50% of new COVID-19 cases nationwide, according to the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
State health officials had identified just 10 Delta variant cases in South Carolina, as of June 30, but fear the true number of Delta cases in the state is far greater.
“We know that there are more instances of the Delta variant in our state than what we’ve identified, since not every COVID-positive sample is sequenced for variants,” Kelly said. “We know Delta variant is here (and) we’re concerned it’s going to spread quickly just as it has done in other states with low vaccination rates.”
Until more South Carolinians get inoculated against COVID-19, the state runs the risk of experiencing the sort of surge currently crippling other states with subpar vaccination rates.
“Our state and our nation, for that matter, are at a pivotal point in this pandemic and the way to end it is readily available,” Kelly said. “Vaccines are our way out of this pandemic. We need more of our population vaccinated if we want to beat this once and for all.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2021 at 11:05 AM.