COLUMBIA, SC – South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster opened the COVID-19 vaccination to all residents of the state aged 16 and over, saying on Friday that they could start scheduling appointments next week and receiving vaccine as of March 31.
State officials initially planned to implement the 16-year-old or older rule in May, after completing a final priority phase for people aged 45 and over.
“Our priority with the vaccine has been to save the lives of those most at risk of dying. Keeping the course and resisting distractions, we expanded the access and eligibility of Southern Carolinians for vaccinations faster than initially anticipated, ”said 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.”
South Carolina joins at least a dozen states that have made vaccination eligible for over 16s. The vaccine has not been approved for adolescents and children under the age of 16.
Janeth Cruz, a teenager, will be eligible for the vaccine, but has no plans to get it.
“I don’t think so,” said Cruz. “I don’t want to risk having side effects.”
There is hesitation, but drugmaker Deborah Bowers said there are also many people eager to give their injection.
“We are seeing people coming out of the hole,” said Bowers, owner of Yorkville Pharmacy. “I asked a pharmacist that he had more than 1,800 people on his waiting list.”
On Thursday, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced that all North Carolina residents aged 16 and over will be eligible to apply for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment starting April 7.
[ North Carolina to open COVID vaccines to everyone 16 or older April 7 ]
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.
“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 instead of controlling us and getting back to normal. “
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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.
“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 Ferver.
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In January, the governor said he was frustrated with what he characterized as a slow release of the vaccine. The Republican governor attributed to the administration of former President Donald Trump the rapid development of vaccines, but he deplored the “bottlenecks” that, he said, were preventing the spread to those in the first priority group, including health professionals.
Since then, vaccines have become much more widely available in the state and across the country. Earlier this month, South Carolina began opening appointments for people aged 55 and over, as well as for people with certain health conditions or jobs that require them to report to work in person.
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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’s 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 everyone in South Carolina, 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.
Janeth Cruz, a teenager, will be eligible for the vaccine next week, but has no plans to get it.
“I don’t think so,” said Cruz. “I don’t want to risk having side effects.”
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Vaccination of teachers has also been a priority in South Carolina, as McMaster and others have pledged to return students to classrooms for full-time face-to-face instruction, rather than the mix of face-to-face and virtual learning that many districts have adopted. .
This week, some districts suspended classes for several days to allow educators to make their vaccinations. Earlier this year, legislators debated pushing teachers to the front of the vaccination line in order to return to classroom teaching more quickly, but this was rejected in favor of adding teachers to already eligible groups.
The widespread vaccination occurs as South Carolina continues to lift the restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus. McMaster never implemented a mask mandate across the state, but he ordered masking in restaurants and some government office buildings. He suspended these orders earlier this month, leaving it for state administrative officials and restaurant operators to develop their own guidelines.
Last month, the governor lifted bans on alcohol sales at night and meetings of more than 250 people. He encouraged people to “make responsible decisions”, but said he believed that “these targeted and limited security measures are no longer needed”. At the time, state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell warned that if people realized that the virus was no longer a threat, they could stop following public health guidelines and increase cases again.
“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 instead of controlling us and getting back to normal, ”said Dr. Edward Simmer, director of the Department of Health and Environmental Control, on Friday.
*** Meg Kinnard of the Associated Press contributed to this article.