FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 26, 2021
COLOMBIA, SC – Governor Henry McMaster and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) announced today that all South Carolina residents aged 16 and over will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine from 31 December March 2021 and can start scheduling their appointments from next Wednesday.
“Our priority with the vaccine has been to save the lives of those most at risk of dying. By keeping the course and resisting distractions, we expand the access and eligibility of Southern Carolinians for vaccinations faster than initially anticipated ”. said Governor Henry McMaster. “Thanks to the enormous efforts of health professionals in our state, we are now able to make the vaccine available to anyone who wants it, and before the deadline.”
“We started by making the vaccine available to those who were most vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19; the elderly, those at high risk of exposure at work and those with medical conditions that aggravate the effects of COVID-19, ” said Dr. Edward Simmer, Director of DHEC. “Today, about a year after the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, we are able to offer three very safe and effective vaccines to all South Carolina residents over the age of 16 – another step on our way to taking control of the COVID-19. of him controlling us and getting back to normal. ”
On March 8, South Carolina moved to Phase 1b of the vaccination plan, which allowed people aged 55 and over, all at increased risk of serious COVID-19 disease and all frontline workers at occupational risk increased to receive the vaccine. Since then, DHEC and other vaccine suppliers have administered an average of 23,323 doses per day, for a total of 419,816 doses administered since 8 March.
“Thanks to the excellent work of many people, including volunteers, community groups, vaccine providers and, especially, the people of South Carolina, we gave more than 1.8 million doses of the vaccine to more than 1.1 million people in the South Carolina in just three months ”. said Simmer.
Altogether, DHEC and other vaccine suppliers administered a total of 1,818,939 doses of the vaccine to South Carolina residents, with 1,163,103 South Carolinians having received at least one dose and 617,787 South Carolinians having completed the vaccination. To date, approximately 15% of South Carolina’s population has been fully vaccinated.
Ages for vaccines
Currently, Pfizer is the only vaccine available for people aged 16 to 18 years. All three vaccines – Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen – are available for people over 18 years of age.
According to the CDC guidelines, here is what you can do after you have been fully vaccinated.
“Spring, and especially Easter, is a time of hope, and with the COVID-19 vaccines becoming available to all South Carolina residents, we can all hope for a better tomorrow,” said Simmer. “I encourage all Southern Carolinians who have not been vaccinated to receive the vaccine as soon as possible and to continue to wear their masks and to distance themselves socially, to ensure that we save as many lives as possible.”
How to make an appointment?
Online appointments can be made using scdhec.gov/vaxlocator or you can call DHEC’s COVID-19 Vaccine Information Line at 1-866-365-8110 for help.
###