COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) has been working to vaccinate South Carolina's vulnerable population against COVID-19 since late December.
Since allocations arrived in the Palmetto state, there has been some confusion surrounding the vaccine rollout.
News 19's Vaccine Team took a closer look at the timeline of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout so far, and where the state is versus where lawmakers and health officials hoped we be.
At the beginning of December, the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) said the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines could be available to South Carolinians as soon as December 14.
South Carolina received it's first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine on December 14. The following day, health care workers began receiving their first dose of the vaccine, marking the start of phase 1-A.
On December 10, during a press conference, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster described the vaccine rollout plan, along with the phases.
"The first to receive the vaccine according to the CDC will be individuals in health care settings at the highest risk contracting COVID-19 and are essential to preventing the mortality of others," McMaster said.
During December state health officials also estimated they would be able to move to phase 1B by late January or early February.
When vaccine rollout began, phase 1A included first responders, healthcare workers, and those 70 years old and above.
SC Gov. Henry McMaster and DHEC added those 65-years-old and older to Phase 1A of the COVID-19 vaccine roll out on February 3. Appointments for those just added to the phase will begin on Monday, Feb. 8.
With this addition, Phase 1A includes around 1.3 million people in the state. That number includes medical staff, first responders, and anyone 65 and older.
"With increase vaccine allocations from the federal government and a stream line vaccination plan it is appropriate to expand the number of South Carolinians eligible to receive the vaccine," Dr. Michael Kacka, DHEC Chief Medical Officer for COVID-19.
It's not clear when phase 1B will begin.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC), only 7% to 9% of South Carolina's population has received the COVID-19 vaccine.
As of Wednesday February 3, the CDC said about 33 million doses of the vaccine were administered across the nation.
According to CBS News, federal health officials expected 50-million Americans would be vaccinated by the end of January.
According to DHEC, limited supply is one of the factors that is keeping the state from being where lawmakers and public health officials hoped we would be.
The federal government is hoping to address this issue by shipping out more vaccines nationwide.
While health officials want everyone to be vaccinated as soon as possible, a lot of this falls on how much of the vaccine each state receives.
"The brutal truth is, it's gonna take months before we can get the majority of Americans vaccinated, months," President Joe Biden said in January.
Meanwhile, South Carolina public health officials are still hopeful the vaccine will be available for everyone in late Summer 2021 to early Fall.
