MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – MaryAnn Carruthers, a resident of Horry County, is 70 years old and is part of Phase 1A of the state’s vaccination launch. After a difficult start, she is fully vaccinated.
Carruthers – a retired medical worker – says it is important for state leaders to do everything they can to ensure that vaccines reach the arms of people vulnerable to the virus in all groups.
“I can feel people’s frustration that they can’t be vaccinated,” said Carruthers.
It is an issue that was raised on Wednesday during the Vaccine Advisory Committee meeting of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
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Earlier this week, DHEC announced that providers will begin moving to Phase 1B on Monday. This means that more than two million people will be added to the state’s vaccine list. During the VAC session, medical leaders say they are working to ensure that the distribution process is ethical, as they move from Phase 1A to Phase 1B.
“There were so many restrictions in Phase 1a, [it] in fact, limited access to certain populations, ”said the state’s epidemiologist, Dr. Linda Bell. “[Such as] whether they did not work as health professionals, or not in nursing homes or not in this age group. As soon as we implement this for a broader population, if we continue to see these disparities [during Phase 1b], this will make it clear that there are some systemic problems to be solved in access. “
But some in the community question whether the DHEC structure for delivering the vaccine is ethical, raising questions about why some groups are now becoming eligible to receive their injection in the arm.
WMBF News brought these concerns to Professor Julinna Oxley, of Coastal Carolina University, who specializes in ethics.
Oxley says the state’s allocation plan is ethical. She says it is important for people to understand that the DHEC vaccination plan is rooted in ways to bring a scarce resource, such as the COVID-19 vaccine, to the most at-risk and vulnerable population. When it comes to the ethics of distribution, Oxley says that medical leaders are using a clear set of principles to guide their decision-making process.
She says the public outcry to open vaccines for other groups may have contributed to state leaders moving to Phase 1B and making more people eligible.
“For members of the public to say, ‘Hey, and us; we have pre-existing conditions, ”said Oxley. “We have been waiting for a long time and people from other states have already taken these vaccines. I think it is very important because it gives the government the opportunity to be responsive ”.
But one area that Oxley says may be crossing the ethical line is vaccine tourism, if it is ethical for people to cross state lines to get the vaccine instead of waiting for their turn in Palmetto State.
“I think that at the end of the day it is not the right thing to do. It is a kind of cheating in the system, you are jumping on the line, ”said Oxley. “The problem is that it hinders the planning phase of each state. It becomes more difficult for them to plan if people are not going in the order they expected. “
Carruthers added that she is pleased with Governor Henry McMaster’s presence at a mass vaccination clinic that was held at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on Wednesday afternoon.
She said the events will help to speed up the number of people receiving doses, and she is happy that state leaders are on board and showing their support.
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