COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control DHEC) says the coronavirus vaccine could be coming to rural communities soon.
State health officials gave an update on Friday about the pandemic and the vaccine.
South Carolina is currently receiving 63,000 doses a week of the COVID-19 vaccine from the federal government, officials said.
"DHEC recognizes the urgent need to vaccinate as many people in our state as possible to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our community," said Dr. Brannon Traxler, Interim Public Health Director at DHEC. "100% of COVID-19 vaccines now available in the state have been or are scheduled to be put into the arms of South Carolinians."
Dr. Traxler asks people to be patient as DHEC works to make sure the vaccines are going first to people who are most vulnerable to the virus.
The state now has 177 sites that can receive the vaccine. There are 879 approved sites that will be ready to carry the vaccine when it's available to them.
"Additionally, our federally qualified health centers, or FQHCs, will begin to receive vaccines next week," Dr. Traxler said. "They are another critical partner in providing access for our rural and underserved communities."
Dr. Traxler says they're looking to make sure the vaccine becomes more available outside of cities and more urban areas.
"Vaccines have been allocated to some of the larger retail pharmacies and so some of those will begin vaccination clinics in some of the rural areas," Dr. Traxler said. "We also worked to open DHEC clinics. There are, I believe, seven DHEC sites that have received vaccine and maybe an eighth mobile one that should begin vaccinating here in the next couple of weeks."
State health officials also addressed the timeline for people to get appointments to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
"We want to help set expectations on how soon someone can get an appointment. It's important to understand that the flow of vaccine is from the federal government, and it is not sufficient to meet the growing demand at this time."
People have noticed it's been difficult to find appointments available to get the vaccine. Health officials say this is due to supply and demand.
Dr. Traxler says they're working on a "front door" portal to help folks schedule appointments. It would help people to schedule appointments online. This could take a couple of weeks.
Dr. Traxler says it may take some time for the state to move to Phase 1B due to the number of vaccines the state is receiving.
"If we were to continue to receive the same amount as were are receiving now on a weekly basis, I would anticipate that other phases, next being 1B, would begin probably within a couple of months."