COLOMBIA – In the face of an attempt to decide whether teachers are more important than a long list of other South Carolinaians vying for the priority of COVID-19 vaccines, a panel of the Chamber delayed February 16 to do something.
Instead, the Ways and Means subcommittee wants to hear next week about plans to vaccinate K-12 employees as soon as they become eligible and how the Johnson & Johnson vaccine – which federal regulators could authorize in the coming weeks – can be dedicated teachers and other essential workers in the next phase of eligibility.
Legislation passed by the Senate last week would move all K-12 employees and daycare centers to Phase 1A, adding about 150,000 people to a list that already includes 1.3 million South Carolinians.
His first hearing in the Chamber made it clear that he has little chance of advancing in that chamber, after a parade of 55 defenders of other workers and residents at medical risk asked lawmakers to move their groups as well.
Priority-seeking groups included public transport workers, port workers, utility workers, manufacturing workers and people in daycare centers for adults and disability programs that are not in nursing homes – where they would have a guaranteed chance – but are equally vulnerable .
“Everyone who testified today is important,” said panel chairman, Representative Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, at the conclusion of the hearing. “I don’t know if the Legislature should be involved in the process of moving and prioritizing people.”
What the House could ultimately do is make recommendations instead of approving a mandate that may not stand a chance of taking effect before the state moves on to the next phase. Teachers and day care centers are among the “essential frontline workers” in Phase 1B, which also includes grocery stores, public transportation, agricultural and construction workers.
The proposal chooses two groups to overtake other essential workers, said Transportation Department secretary Christy Hall, calling her employees “mission critical” to keep roads open, including the potential to fight snow and ice in the coming days.
“You are choosing winners and losers,” said Hall.
House minority leader Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, said the bill creates a legislative version of the 2012 “Hunger Games” film, which shows people killing themselves to find a winner.
“We are dealing with people who are struggling for survival,” he said. “We don’t want to do that or / or. I’m not in a position to decide life or death, but those are life and death decisions.”
This is a developing story. Go back for more details.
follow Seanna Adcox on Twitter at @seannaadcox_pc.