COLUMBIA, SC – South Carolina health officials are making a few thousand parents eligible for the coronavirus vaccine.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control says that parents who care for clinically fragile or severely disabled children at home can now get the injection.
State epidemiologist, Dr. Linda Bell, estimates that this would make about 3,000 people eligible for the vaccine.
Demand has skyrocketed since the state made the vaccine available to people aged 70 and over.
Some hospitals have had to cancel appointments because they do not have enough vaccine.
South Carolina receives about 63,000 first weekly doses. Health officials say they do not expect to receive more than that soon.
South Carolina remains in Phase 1A of the vaccine launch. This first phase includes mainly frontline health professionals and residents of assisted homes and nursing homes.
The state recently opened the vaccine to people aged 70 and over.
But while these people are still struggling to find available times, state health leaders are already discussing the next phase, Phase 1B of vaccinations.
The state’s vaccine advisory committee says that in addition to people like prison officers and postal workers, they want to see the following in this second phase:
- Doulas of birth, a person who guides a woman during childbirth
- Employees providing topical oxygen therapy
- School staff caring for disabled children in need of assistance
- Substitute teachers
The state health department has yet to approve the recommendations.
It is not yet clear when those in Phase 1B will be able to start scheduling their doses.
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