Now that the governor has opened vaccine nominations for the next phase of eligibility at launch, millions of people in South Carolina can schedule a vaccine.
Almost a year after the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in South Carolina, Governor Henry McMaster said on March 2 that he would move the state to the next phase of vaccination starting on March 8.
“We are now in a position to make the majority of Southern Carolinians eligible for the vaccine,” said McMaster.
Here’s what you need to know about whether you qualify now and how to make an appointment if you do:
Who is eligible?
Up to this point, those eligible to schedule a vaccine appointment in South Carolina were primarily healthcare professionals, people aged 65 and over, and medical first aid. With the March 2 announcement, many more people qualify, including essential workers, anyone aged 55 and over and people with certain underlying health conditions.
In making his announcement, McMaster recently opened eligibility for more than half of the state, instead of limiting new appointments to smaller, select groups of people, as initial plans required. The definitions that McMaster shared about who can take a photo were broad, but he shared some concrete guidelines.
The governor defined the underlying health conditions that would make any adult eligible from March 8: obesity, organ transplantation, cancer, chronic kidney disease, lung disease, Down syndrome, hypertension, pregnancy and sickle cell disease. He noted that qualifications are not limited to these conditions.
People with special needs are also eligible, said McMaster, if these deficiencies put the individual at greater risk of contracting COVID-19.
Essential workers include all educators in the state, as well as people who work with daycare centers. People working in law enforcement, manufacturing, hospitality, transportation, services, agribusiness or local and state government are among the other frontline employees who will be eligible next week. In a broad definition, officials said that frontline workers include anyone who needs to be in person for their work and cannot distance themselves socially, according to the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Ultimately, if your job requires you to work in person and you cannot be at least 2 meters away from others while working, then you qualify.
How do I find an appointment?
Although the announcement was made on the morning of March 2, newly eligible people are advised to wait until March 8 before scheduling an appointment. DHEC expects the announcement to encourage people who were already eligible, but have not been given any chance, to apply before competing with more than 2 million additional southern carolins.
If you have access to the Internet, the most reliable method is to visit the DHEC vaccine nomination website, vaxlocator.dhec.sc.gov. Sites that have appointments available are shown in green.
If you don’t have internet or need help, the public health agency has an open call center for field inquiries at 866-365-8110. The call center is open from 7 am to 7 pm and staff at the call center can arrange a vaccine appointment for people who call.
DHEC officials noted that the demand is still greater than the amount of vaccine that reaches the state. According to information from DHEC, about 521,000 people are scheduled for an appointment. People should not expect to enter a provider’s calendar immediately.
Why did South Carolina take so far to move on to the next stage?
South Carolina health officials said they are taking the time to ensure that the people most vulnerable to COVID-19 have access to the vaccine first. What aggravates the state’s vaccination rate is the fact that South Carolina’s population gets older compared to the rest of the country.
Nick Davidson, senior public health deputy at DHEC, said last week that states ‘vaccine categories include different groups, and some states’ top categories are larger than others. A quarter of South Carolina’s population is eligible for the first phase of the vaccine’s launch.
“We will continue to focus on those who are most at risk,” said Davidson. “We want to prevent disease and death in our state.”
Who has more vaccine to administer?
The amount of vaccine that a provider has available to give people changes daily.
Judging by the information that DHEC shares every day, thousands of doses of Moderna vaccine are still available at local retail pharmacies across the state. These vaccine chains include Publix, Ingles, Kroger, Harris Teeter, Walmart, Costco, Walgreens and CVS.
How fast is South Carolina moving to administer vaccines?
All signs point that South Carolina can resume the pace of vaccination.
According to DHEC, state health providers administered about 182,000 vaccines in the week of February 22. And starting this week, the newly authorized Johnson & Johnson vaccine will begin arriving in South Carolina.
“We are seeing the number of vaccines increase a little faster than we expected,” said Dr. Edward Simmer, director of DHEC.
Even so, South Carolina ranks last among states in the number of vaccines administered to its residents, adjusted for the size of its population, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.