The South Carolina primary health agency has already spent nearly $ 120 million to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, state lawmakers said last week. In 2021, COVID-19 could cost the state three times that amount.
The funds allocated to help pay for the effort will not be sufficient to carry out the Department of Health and Environmental Control of SC through the largest vaccination and testing campaigns ever carried out in the state this year.
Darbi MacPhail, DHEC’s chief financial and operations officer, told state lawmakers during a hearing that the agency spent $ 119.6 million on COVID-19 through January 10. She also shared with them a projection that the virus will cost South Carolina $ 352.6 million this year.
The federal government has already pledged to offset most of this expense. But DHEC is asking the state to find a way to contribute $ 62.6 million, as all aid funding has been used.
How much everything will actually cost will depend in part on whether the disease continues to spread or whether the cases decrease to a more manageable level.
Here’s how the biggest costs divide:
At $ 53 million, the test was easily the biggest expense to date. DHEC has processed more than four million tests since the pandemic began, Dr. Linda Bell, said the agency’s chief epidemiologist. Bell praised his agency’s team of 4,000 people for recording over 1 million hours of work in the COVID-19 response.
DHEC reported that its vaccination effort only cost $ 131,000 as of January 10. But as the vaccination initiative grows and continues throughout the year, it will cost a projected $ 106.9 million.
Personnel costs totaled $ 29.8 million, while protective equipment and other medical supplies have cost $ 12.2 million since the state’s first case was found in early March.
MacPhail said it is imperative that the General Assembly intervene to ensure that neither testing nor vaccination efforts fall, as the state is fighting the worst of the pandemic it has seen so far.
“What we are anticipating is such a huge demand for vaccination at the same time that we have to do the tests,” said MacPhail. “We need to make sure that we have resources readily available.”
Both the Chamber and the state Senate must agree to allocate this amount of money to the agency. Then he would have to pass Governor Henry McMaster’s desk.
The costs, both in dollars and in hours spent, will continue for years, MacPhail said during the House committee meeting. A federal grant awarded provides funding for more than four years, a hint at how long public health experts predict the coronavirus will be on your mind.
In comparison, the agency’s total request for funds unrelated to COVID-19 was about $ 10 million this year.
Reach Mary Katherine Wildeman at 843-607-4312. Follow her on Twitter @mkwildeman.