COLUMBIA, S.C. — On Monday, more than 2.7 million more South Carolinians became eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine under Phase 1B.
Within the first hour of the morning, health officials with South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control, or SCHEC, said they answered over 3,000 calls to their vaccine help line. They anticipated the high volume of callers and said everything is operating smoothly.
Those eligible under Phase 1B include:
- Anyone 55 and older;
- Those with high-risk medical conditions; and
- Anyone who has ongoing, close contact with others while on the job
Examples of frontline workers eligible under Phase 1B include teachers, grocery store workers and law enforcement personnel.
To gain a better perspective of how high demand is for the vaccine in the Palmetto State, DHEC officials tell us their vaccine help line answered 3,400 calls within an hour after Phase 1B opened.
The agency says they have 400 call agents ready to help people schedule a vaccine appointment.
Right now, however, demand is outweighing supply.
Prisma Health, for example, said in a statement to News 19: "Due to continued limited supply of the vaccine and a significant increase in demand, available appointments are highly limited. We understand the frustration this causes and will open more appointments as soon as we have the vaccine supply to accommodate the additional eligible people. We ask the public for their continued patience and understanding."
DHEC says the vaccine demand is significantly outweighing the supply across the country. They say as we begin to get more doses in the coming weeks and months, vaccine appointments will be easier to get.
Right now, DHEC has a team working to update their vaccine map on their website throughout the day. As more providers begin to receive more vaccine doses this week, locations and appointment availability will be updated on the map.
Later this week, DHEC expects to update their vaccine allocation information to include the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Even after you receive your shot, health officials stress the importance of staying dedicated to CDC COVID-19 safety protocols. In a statement, DHEC says: "We continue to recommend the same daily health actions for preventing disease spread, which include the proper wearing of masks, physically distancing from others by six feet and frequent hand washing. It will be several more months before enough of the population is vaccinated that herd immunity could be established, so we encourage everyone to continue to take the daily precautions that we know work to prevent disease transmission."
If you need help scheduling a vaccine appointment, you can also call DHEC's vaccine help line at 1-866-365-8110.