The data will help direct efforts to ensure that all residents of South Carolina have equal access to the COVID-19 vaccine.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 15, 2021
COLUMBIA, SC – The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) today launched a new online resource that provides information on the age, gender, race and ethnicity of people who received COVID-19 vaccines in South Carolina.
The data in this online resource are considered provisional and subject to change, as they are based on the records of providers about the people who are vaccinating in our state. Some people choose to limit the amount of information they tell a provider, such as race and ethnicity.
This new demographic panel is available by clicking on the “COVID-19 vaccination panel” button on the COVID-19 main page. The dashboard is updated daily. It is important that users of the new panel read the document “Understanding the change in data”, which explains what this demographic information means and what it does not. For example, the information is based on where a person was vaccinated, not where the person lives.
“It is important to understand that South Carolina is currently in Phase 1a of our vaccination plan across the state, so the demographic information currently available is based on people who are eligible to receive the vaccine in Phase 1a, who were predominantly professionals only until mid-January. It is not based on demographic analyzes of the state as a whole ”, said Nick Davidson, Senior Public Health Officer at DHEC.
About a fifth of the state’s population is eligible to receive their vaccines: about 1.3 million people are in Phase 1a and the state’s total population is about 5.2 million. As more vaccines become available and more Southern Carolinians can receive their vaccines, the demographic panel will expand to provide additional information.
“These demographics are significant for a number of reasons, but the most important thing is that, as more people start receiving their vaccines in future phases of the vaccine plan, we will have an overview of the types of people who may be delaying receiving their vaccines. shots, ” Davidson said. “Having this information will allow us to connect directly with these communities and ensure that they have fair and equal access to vaccines and ensure that we, as the state’s public health agency, have a clear understanding of any limitations and can resolve those limitations immediately. South Carolina remains dedicated to fair and equitable distribution of the vaccine to everyone. ”
For the latest information on the COVID-19 vaccine, visit scdhec.gov/vaxfacts. For the latest updates to COVID-19, visit schdec.gov/COVID19.
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