COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Columbia VA Health Care System continues to wait for the coronavirus vaccine to distribute once it arrives.
The state of South Carolina started receiving the COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, Dec. 14.
So far, the vaccine has made its way to the Conway Medical Center, the Lexington Medical Center and Prisma Health.
News 19 checked in with the Columbia VA Health Care System to find out if they have received vaccines yet or not.
"Even though our site was not selected for the Pfizer vaccine, we expect that the Moderna vaccine will be authorized soon, and our facility may receive vaccine doses at that time," said Dillon McConnell, a Public Affairs Officer for the healthcare system.
The Columbia VA Health Care System says they already have a distribution plan in place for when they receive a vaccine. They say they also have the required freezers that are needed to store the vaccine.
"The Columbia VA will manage the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines through a phased approach based upon CDC risk categories," said McConnell. "The facility plans to first administer the vaccine to nursing home Veterans, who are at the highest risk of acquiring COVID-19; and nursing home staff, who are essential to providing care to our most vulnerable patients."
The Columbia VA will later make the vaccine available to all essential health care personnel and Veterans who are receiving care at the VA. This will happen once large quantities of the vaccine will become available.