McMaster and SC lawmakers want information ‘immediately’ on COVID-19 vaccination plans

S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and some state lawmakers want more information “immediately” on how, where and when the state is rolling out vaccinations and getting the life-saving COVID-19 vaccine into the arms of those who need it most.

In a terse, one-page letter sent Thursday to S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) chair Mark Elam, McMaster made it clear that he wants the information now.

DHEC, the state health agency whose governing board McMaster appoints, is overseeing South Carolina’s mass distribution plans of the COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccines are said to be more than 90% effective in preventing the disease in those who are inoculated.

“I ask that the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control immediately make available to the public a complete accounting of the status and location of every COVID-19 vaccine dose that has been received and distributed in the state,” McMaster wrote.

“This information should be immediately disclosed on DHEC’s online COVID-19 information dashboard as well,” he wrote. “The disclosure of this information is critical to maintaining the public’s confidence and participation in the COVID-19 vaccination effort.”

McMaster recently tested positive for coronavirus, emerged from a 10-day quarantine on Thursday and is said to be doing fine. At 73, the governor is in that part of the population — 65 and over — considered among the most vulnerable to complications and possible death from the disease. Older people have less robust immune systems to fight the virus, medical authorities say.

State lawmakers are also commenting on the dearth of vaccination information.

“I’m getting calls from constituents,” State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, said Friday morning. “They want information. People want to know where they can get vaccinated and when. They regard this is as a total failure of government to deliver a life-saving service.”

Earlier this week, State Sen. Marlon Kimpson tweeted on his account that as of Tuesday DHEC had received 112,125 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

“A total of 31,511 doses of the vaccine have been administered,” Kimpson wrote. “Moderna numbers worse. I find this extremely troubling. At this pace, we’ll be here next year having the same conversation.”

DHEC responded Friday night with a news release, saying the agency was working to make sure vaccines are distributed and information is available to the public.

The 8:18 p.m. release, headlined “DHEC Continues to Provide COVID-19 Vaccine Updates, Latest Information,’’ said 16 health care facilities have received 97,500 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine directly from the federal government since Dec. 14. The release said DHEC’s distribution center has gotten 14,625 doses and distributed 5,555 to health care facilities that lack the ability to keep the Pfizer vaccine in “ultra-cold storage.’’

.According to the release, DHEC is developing an online vaccine overview dashboard that will be launched Wednesday. Until then, the agency will provide daily updates to a spreadsheet on Pfizer vaccine allocations. The agency said anyone interesting in learning more should visit the scdhec.gov/vaxfacts webpage.

The rollout of vaccinations in South Carolina and around the nation has been anticipated for weeks. President Trump promised that 20 million Americans would be vaccinated by the end of 2020 and named the process Operation Warp Speed, to illustrate how fast things would move. But as of Thursday at midnight, only about 2.7 million people have been vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Trump administration delegated the responsibility for administering vaccines to the states, but not all states have adequate delivery systems in place.

According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, more than 80% of the nation’s 328 million residents need to be vaccinated to achieve “herd immunity” — the point at which the highly contagious coronavirus will be unable to easily spread throughout the population.

As of Friday morning, 345,844 Americans and 5,296 South Carolinians have died from the virus. Medical experts have warned of a likely surge in cases and deaths after the December holidays. In the past three days, more than 10,000 Americans have died from the virus, CNN reported Friday morning, citing statistics from Johns Hopkins Medical University.

Questions about SC’s vaccine rollout

Key questions from the public and lawmakers include

▪ How much will CVS and Walgreens and other pharmacies be involved? In other states, such as Louisiana, pharmacies are being mobilized as a key part of getting the vaccine to people. Louisiana will start pharmacy inoculations as early as this Monday, according to press reports from that state.

▪ Will South Carolina’s National Guard, which has trained combat medics capable of delivering shots, be mobilized?

▪ How many trained people who can give injections are available and will be mobilized? Will these people be in rural areas of the state?

▪ Will South Carolina’s major cities have mass inoculation sites? Where will they be?

▪ Does DHEC have enough ultra-cold storage facilities around the state to keep the vaccine at the extreme low temperatures it needs to be kept at? How many such storage facilities are there? How many does it need? Does DHEC have enough dry ice on hand to slow the warning of the vaccines?

DHEC has made some information available about South Carolina’s vaccination rollout on its COVID-19 information page, last updated Thursday afternoon.

For example, DHEC wrote about the availability of vaccine: “On December 14, 2020, South Carolina received its first allocation of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Several health care facilities in the state received allocations directly from the federal government and are vaccinating their front-line medical workers.

“South Carolina received initial doses of Moderna vaccine on December 28, 2020. The state is expected to receive between 200,000 to 300,000 doses combined of Pfizer and Moderna vaccine by the end of the year. However, those amounts are subject to change,” DHEC wrote.

How long will vaccine process take?

In South Carolina, DHEC said earlier this week, it had received 112,125 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and administered 39,100 doses to people.

On Thursday afternoon, in a briefing to reporters, DHEC’s Dr. Brannon Traxler said that DHEC’s ultimate goal is to vaccinate everyone who wants a vaccination, “but it is going to take some time.”

Traxler said, “This is a rapidly evolving event. The vaccine is unlike any vaccine we’ve ever dealt with before.”

Challenges of handling the vaccine include its limited supplies and that the Pfizer vaccine must be kept at “ultra-cold levels” in special freezers with temperature monitoring capabilities, she said.

Giving people shots is the last stage in a complex multi-step process that includes manufacturing the vaccines, allocating quantities to each state, shipping them to hospitals, health departments and pharmacies and setting up a reporting process, the New York Times reported Friday.

DHEC has set priorities as to who should get the vaccine first.

The first phase includes residents and staff of long-term care facilities, as well as frontline healthcare personnel.

On Friday afternoon, DHEC released the following statement:

“Health care providers are entering the vaccines they have administered into the federal COVID-19 Vaccination Reporting Systems (VAMS),’’ the statement said. “DHEC will publicly report the latest SC vaccine data available — doses received and administered by location— within 24 hours.’’

DHEC plans a media briefing on the vaccines at 11 a.m. Saturday.

This story has been updated.

This story was originally published January 1, 2021 at 10:29 AM.