South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster warned on Monday of a move to end elective surgery in an attempt to free up hospital staff and administer more COVID-19 vaccines, according to a report.
The news came after McMaster wrote a letter last week to the South Carolina Hospital Association, asking hospitals to voluntarily reduce the number of non-essential procedures amid staff shortages and an increasing demand for a faster vaccination rate. Fox News requested comments from the association.
“At the moment, we have doses that were not given and that are stored on the shelf,” McMaster said on Monday, by Post and Courier. “This is over. This is over. We are not going to do this anymore … even if I have to order the end of elective surgeries in some hospitals to free up staff to give these injections.”
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According to state data, South Carolina administered 163,800 doses of 317,975 vaccines, or just over half of its vaccine stock. A voluntary pause in elective surgeries early last spring reduced hospital earnings and caused layoffs, the agency said, adding that many hospitals restarted services two months later.
A hospital executive said the problem was in the predictable supply, rather than personnel.
“Predictable delivery remains what limits the ability to go faster,” said Tod Augsburger, CEO of Lexington Medical Center. The hospital reportedly received 950 doses on January 11 and 3,000 the week before.
The hospital used at least 60% of its supply, lagging behind the state average of 65% among large hospitals, the agency wrote, citing state data. Meanwhile, four hospitals managed less than half of their supply.
South Carolina expanded the vaccine’s eligibility to people aged 70 and over last week, although the Trump administration, in an attempt to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination efforts, asked states to expand the distribution to include people aged 65 and over. The federal supply of weekly doses to South Carolina will remain at around 63,000. McMaster hopes that an increase in the production pace of manufacturers and vaccines from other companies that are working toward approval will bring some relief.
On Monday, McMaster tweeted that he was visiting hospitals to witness the distribution.
“Today I started to visit hospitals in our state to see first-hand how they are dealing with the significant responsibility of vaccinating the people of South Carolina,” he tweeted. “Some hospitals are doing a great job. Others are not. We MUST speed up this process, and we will.”
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In an update on the same day, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control reported that 100% of the vaccines available in the state have already been or are in progress. Qualified residents are encouraged to continue scheduling their appointments so that when more doses are available, they can be administered quickly and efficiently.
Dr. Brannon Traxler, acting director of public health, also refuted reports of missed doses, but said officials would continue to monitor surveillance data.
State data show a positivity percentage above 17%, and almost a quarter of the state’s total deaths were reported in the last 30 days. Hospitalizations continued to increase in the past month, with more than 2,300 patients hospitalized due to COVID-19, and more than 400 in intensive care.