At Medical University of South Carolina, an insufficient supply of vaccines means that Charleston’s hospital system is not marking anyone new on the appointment schedule.
“We didn’t get enough vaccine to schedule new appointments,” said Dr. Danielle Scheurer, director of quality at MUSC Health.
Similar problems are being reported in other hospitals in South Carolina. According to data reported to the Department of Health and Environmental Control of SC, the amount of vaccine included in this week’s shipments was lower for both MUSC and Prisma Health, which are higher. health systems than at any time since early January.
“It’s just more difficult to plan,” said Scheurer. “We didn’t expect to receive much less.”
Scheurer said that some first dose consultations are being rescheduled so that the vials can be used for second dose consultations. The hospital is not canceling patients completely, she said, but second doses should be prioritized because patients cannot wait long after the first round.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the best course is to take the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine three weeks after the first. The agency said people can wait up to six weeks, if necessary, but after that period, there is no evidence to support obtaining the second injection.
State figures
New cases reported: 718 confirmed, 156 probable.
Total cases in SC: 437,806 confirmed, 69,106 probable.
Positive percentage: 6.6 percent.
New deaths reported: 21 confirmed, six likely.
Total deaths in SC: 7,436 confirmed, 921 probable.
Percentage of ICU beds occupied: 73 percent.
How does SC rank in vaccines administered by 100,000 people?
42 as of February 22, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Most affected areas
In the total number of new confirmed cases, Greenville (83), Charleston (56) and Spartanburg (53) counties saw the highest totals.
What about the tri-county?
Charleston County had 56 new cases on February 23, while Berkeley counted 16 and Dorchester 14.
Deaths
All new confirmed confirmed deaths occurred among people aged 65 and over.
Hospitalizations
Of the 977 COVID-19 patients hospitalized on February 23, 232 were in the ICU and 126 were using ventilators.
What do the experts say?
The CDC studied a school district in Georgia during a month of face-to-face classes and found that teachers appeared to be the most likely spreaders of the virus than students.
The finding is relevant to the schools’ full reopening plans, since educators are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, while most students are not.
Researchers from the country’s public health authority wrote that it is possible to keep COVID-19 out of schools, even when the disease is spreading in the community.
The CDC and local health officials studied eight primary schools in the same school district in Georgia. In each case of the dissemination of COVID-19, the physical distance and the use of the mask were not always done properly.
Lunchtime, when children are not required to wear masks, was considered the likely culprit for the spread of the virus.
But the main finding of the research was “that educators play an important role in transmission at school”.