COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Department of Environmental Control's Vaccine Advisory Committee (VAC) met on Wednesday to discuss challenges and successes in the state's vaccine rollout.
State Epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell is the committee chair. She took a look at feedback from the group to address what's been working well and what might need to be tweaked.
The committee includes educators, health care agencies, faith based organizations and advocacy groups from around the state. This variety of people is meant to focus on making sure everyone has an equal opportunity to receive a shot, working out the struggles is a priority.
"Community based vaccination events have been well received," Dr. Bell said.
However, Dr. Bell noted, there have also been challenges.
"The availability of vaccine in rural area has been limited, that there is confusion as to where the vaccine is available, transportation remains a challenge, there can be mixed messages, so we need to work on unifying and consolidating our messaging to make sure we have a clear message, and everybody is saying the same thing.," Dr. Bell said.
For those waiting for phase 1B, Dr. Bell said that transition may not be likely until the spring.
'We understand many people who are in the subsequent phases do want to know when their turn will come and what plans will be in place when that happens, so we have really been focused on the roll out for phase 1A, but we realize that leaves other people not in phase 1A in the dark," Dr. Bell said.
The vaccine advisory committee meets every other week on Wednesdays.