SC Senate passes $208 million COVID-19 vaccine bill to help expand distribution
Senators on Wednesday approved a proposal to spend up to $208 million to expand the state’s ability to give people the COVID-19 vaccine.
Vaccine providers would use the money to run vaccine clinics, as well as to pay for continued COVID-19 testing, personal protective equipment, medical supplies and advertising campaigns, among other things.
The money would split between the Department of Health and Environmental Control, the Medical University of South Carolina, hospitals around the state and other approved vaccine providers.
“We want as many different providers,” said state Sen. Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee. “This is all about getting shots in the arms, making sure that we get the vaccine out to the communities, especially rural areas, unserved areas along with the partnerships that have already been in existence.”
The legislation, approved by the House late last month also calls on the DHEC to allocate vaccines on a regional basis per capita, as opposed to on a county basis.
The Senate made some tweaks to the vaccine bill, which will need to be approved by the House.
Senators voted to allow municipalities, who are partnering with hospitals to give people a vaccine, to get reimbursed for vaccine clinic expenses.
For example, the city of Rock Hill has partnered with Piedmont Medical Center to run a vaccine distribution center at the Galleria Mall.
“They saw a need in their community,” Alexander said. “As people are doing that in their communities, ... I embrace that opportunity for people to meet the needs of their communities. Again each community is different.”
The changes also allow vaccine providers to get reimbursed for facility rentals used to host vaccine clinics
DHEC would receive $63 million, and MUSC, which helped the state increase its COVID-19 testing access last year, would receive $45 million in this legislation. Other hospitals would have access of up to $75 million and other providers would have access to up to $25 million.
Under the legislation, DHEC can hold on to 5% of their weekly allocation of vaccine doses. This allows the agency to adjust to changes in shipments coming into the state, such as shipments coming in short when appointments are already scheduled.
As of Tuesday, South Caroilina has received 970,250 COVID-19 vaccine doses. Providers have administered 548,214 doses, according to DHEC.
Under the proposal, DHEC would allocate vaccines per capita to its four public health regions: the Pee Dee, the Lowcountry, the Midlands and the Upstate, rather than per capita by county. But when distributing vaccines in those areas, lawmakers want DHEC to take into account factors such as poverty level, infection rates, age, and high-risk populations.
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 3:08 PM.
