SALUDA COUNTY, S.C. — Saluda County Officials gave an update on the vaccination effort in the county.
"We've got a handful of providers that do have the ability to do vaccinations," said Josh Morton, the Emergency Management Director for Saluda County. "Carolina Health Centers is providing at their locations on a rotating basis. Emmanuel Family Clinic is providing it at their locations."
Morton says they've also referred people to neighboring hospitals in other counties such as Lexington and Greenwood.
While not having a hospital in the county can make things difficult, Morton believes they've been fortunate to have partners in neighboring counties. So far the Saluda County EMD have not received phone calls of people who haven't been able to get the vaccine that wanted it.
"We have had one clinic that DHEC held for us back in late January. They held that at Saluda High School," explained Morton. "It was available for anyone 70 years of age and older. That was before the age changed to 65."
The clinic lasted two days and the director says DHEC will return on February 24th as they begin the second round of doses.
One of the complaints with the vaccine process has been getting appointments scheduled. The Saluda County EMD has assisted some people who have had issues with computers to get the vaccination appointment set up.
All of the EMS personnel and those in the Fire Service in Saluda County have been offered to get the vaccine.
"The one area of our first responders that we've not been able to vaccinate yet is law enforcement," said Morton. "We have been trying to get the state to move law enforcement up in the phases but unfortunately they are still not in Phase 1a. They are in a later phase."
The director says he feels they really need to be vaccinated if they want to at an early stage because he feels they encounter a lot of people who may not necessarily be following safety guidelines.
"As I told somebody at DHEC a couple of weeks ago, it's really hard to put handcuffs on somebody from six feet away," said Morton.
News 19 reached out to DHEC and they said, "Law enforcement personnel who provide emergency medical care are already included in Phase 1a. Currently, all law enforcement officers are included Phase 1b; however, only Phase 1a guidance has been finalized for South Carolina. DHEC will publicly announce when the state formally adopts Phase 1b guidance. It's possible for Phase 1b guidance, once it's formally adopted, to evolve as Phase 1a guidance has."
DHEC says the "South Carolina Vaccine Advisory Committee (VAC) makes vaccine phase recommendations centered on fair, equitable and ethical distribution of limited doses of COVID-19 vaccine." People can learn about the committee and watch their weekly meetings recordings on the Committee's page.
"The VAC helps take federal vaccine guidance and adapt it specifically to South Carolina. It is up to the state of South Carolina as a whole to formally adopt the VAC's recommendations," said DHEC.
Morton says they hope more people will get vaccinated.
"We want everybody to get vaccinated but we understand that there is a challenge there with the supply of vaccine becoming available," explained Morton. "We know that we only get a limited number of doses in South Carolina each week so we know that's going to be a long process."
Morton hopes the vaccine will eventually become available to everyone in the general public and help get ahead of the pandemic.