COLOMBIA, SC (WIS) – New data from the Department of Health and Environmental Control shows that white women are being vaccinated in greater numbers in the state of Palmetto, while other groups are trying to recover.
DHEC’s new vaccination data panel divides who has been vaccinated within the state by sex, race and age.
It also includes information on ethnicity and how many doses are being administered per county.
On February 13, the panel showed 512,814 people vaccinated in the state of South Carolina.
The data also shows the following:
- 310,618 of these people are women of any age (60.6%)
- 192,547 are white women of any age (37.5%)
- 192,253 are women of any race, are 65 years or older (37.5%)
- 64,053 are black, men or women of any age (12.5%)
- 25,885 are black women aged 65 and over (5%)
The US Census estimates that 27 percent of South Carolina is African American.
It also estimates that 51.6 percent of people in South Carolina are women.
DHEC is in the process of reevaluating its distribution of vaccines in the state to make doses more readily available to rural and minority communities.
The DHEC press release on the panel states in part:
“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 vice president of public health 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 shots, ”said Davidson. “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. ”
The vice president of workforce and engagement of members of the South Carolina Hospital Association, Lara Hewitt, said the association cannot talk about what lies behind the disparities, but the large presence of women in the medical workforce is a contributing factor.
South Carolina’s Office for Healthcare Workforce published a report showing that 93% of registered nurses in South Carolina in 2018 are women.
In the study, women represented 38,678 nurses.
“Since health professionals were prioritized in Phase 1A and the large percentage of them are women, it clearly indicates where some of these numbers are showing that it is more targeted at women,” she said.
In addition, the workforce report states that in 2018, 79.9 percent of registered nurses in the state are white, which translates to 33,201 nurses.
Hewitt pointed to documented trends in women seeking health care more often than men. The United States Department of Labor supports this statement, as well as showing that mothers are more involved in health care decisions when their children fall ill.
Prisma’s infectious disease physician, Dr. Divya Ahuja, agreed with this reasoning.
“It is well known that women will have access to health care much more freely, much more openly than men, and that same thing is translating into the vaccine now,” he said.
McLeod Health vice president of Care and Home Services Coordination, Lesli McGee, pointed to women’s longevity. The CDC reports that women live an average of five years longer than men.
As a result, more elderly women can get the vaccine.
The numbers must balance out as more people are vaccinated.
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