Vice President Mike Pence schedules stop in South Carolina
Vice President Mike Pence will visit South Carolina this week to talk about Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s push to partner with private companies to develop a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.
Pence will appear in Greenville Thursday, where he will hold a round table to discuss the initiative, according to the Vice President’s office.
He will also discuss South Carolina’s plan to distribute the vaccine once one is approved.
In Greenville, Pence will be joined by S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, according to McMaster’s office.
Pfizer’s vaccine could be approved for emergency use by the end of the week, and Moderna’s could be approved shortly after. South Carolina is slated to receive between 200,000 and 300,000 doses by the end of the year, DHEC officials told The State Monday. An initial shipment is expected to arrive between Dec. 14 and Dec. 16.
Under the state’s vaccination plan, medical personnel and residents of long-term care facilities will be the first to receive doses. The vaccine won’t be available to the general public for some time.
After Pence’s stop in South Carolina, he is scheduled to attend a “Defend the Majority Rally” in Augusta, Georgia, where he will rally Republican voters to support two GOP senators who are facing tough battles in the state that recently flipped in favor of President Elect Joe Biden.
U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler will face off against challengers Jon Ossoff, a documentary filmmaker, and Pastor Raphael Warnock in a Jan. 5 runoff election.
The races are in the national spotlight because they will decide who controls the Senate during the first years of Biden’s term. If Loeffler and Perdue were to lose, the Senate would be evenly split, with Vice President Elect Kamala Harris casting the deciding vote. That means the Democrats would control the House, the Senate and the White House.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 9:43 AM.
