South Carolina was the first US state to have a confirmed case of a new strain of coronavirus found for the first time in South Africa.
And it was not just one case, but two, found in different regions of the state, and health officials said the cases are not connected.
So, what does this tell us about the prevalence of this variant in the state, and what does the presence of this strain mean for the effort to vaccinate the South Carolinians against the coronavirus?
We talked to health reporter MK Wildeman about what we do and we still don’t know about this strain, which spread more easily than previous versions of the virus.
Project reporter Thad Moore explained what the state is doing to identify the cases of these variants and how South Carolina and the rest of the country compare in terms of sequencing the virus’s genetic material.
And entertainment and food and beverage reporter Kalyn Oyer explains how a local manager at Chick-fil-A helped a vaccine distribution site run as well as one of its fast food stores during a lunch run.
Listen now for more.
For the latest coronavirus news and data in South Carolina, visit our COVID-19 panel. To follow the health and science team’s coverage, subscribe to this free weekly newsletter.
Understand that SC is a usekly podcast from The Post and Courier that uses reporting resources and the knowledge of our newsroom to help you better understand South Carolina. This episode was hosted and edited by Emily Williams and Matt Rasnic.
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