| Herald-Journal
While South Carolina continues to struggle with the shortage of the COVID-19 vaccine, teachers have come close last week to obtain priority status for the vaccine.
State health officials say the demand for vaccines continues to exceed supply.
Last week, those 65 and older were added to the priority list in phase 1a. There are now about 1.3 million people in phase 1a.
Vaccine orders by many of the nearly 500 suppliers exceed the 31,200 Pfizer and 45,200 Modern vaccines allocated to South Carolina each week, according to Nick Davidson, senior deputy for public health in SC’s Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Shipping delays have forced some suppliers to cancel or reschedule appointments.
Most hospitals and major vaccine suppliers in South Carolina receive their vaccine shipments directly from the federal government, and that any delays in shipment are beyond DHEC’s control, according to DHEC.
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As of Saturday, South Carolina had received a total of 970,550 doses and 642,920 doses were administered. Of the doses received from Pfizer-BioNTech, 89% were used, while 38% of the 253,700 doses of Moderna were used.
DHEC’s council on Thursday sought to address the disparity in vaccination rates, with rural counties seeing lower rates than densely populated counties.
A bill from the state chamber would allow DHEC’s public health regions to distribute vaccines per capita and take into account the level of poverty, infection rates, age and high-risk populations.
Meanwhile, the state legislature is also considering a bill to include teachers in phase 1a of the vaccine distribution.
Last week, about 309,000 people aged 65 to 69 were added to phase 1a, but not about 150,000 K-12 employees and day care centers.
Governor Henry McMaster said seniors should be placed in front of teachers because seniors are more at risk of becoming seriously ill due to COVID-19.
As it stands now, teachers are among those in the next phase, phase 1b, which also includes essential frontline workers such as police, fire, bus drivers, post offices, grocery stores and farm workers.
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In the meantime, DHEC is asking residents to continue testing.
“The COVID-19 test remains a critical step in our ongoing battle against the virus,” said Dr. Michael Kacka, DHEC physician and medical director, on Thursday.
“If you have not yet received your injections, you are encouraged to continue testing regularly for COVID-19 so that you are not infected without knowing and spreading the virus.”
Contact Bob Montgomery at [email protected]