COLUMBIA, S.C. — An agreement between the Biden White House and the state of South Carolina will convert a portion of Columbia Place Mall on Two Notch Road into a Community Vaccination Center (CVC) by mid-April.
The Type III CVC will be capable of administering approximately 1,000 shots in arms a day (7,000 doses per week).
Federal teams have already been deployed to work with state and local jurisdictions and the site is expected to be up and running by Wednesday, April 14.
Limited direct vaccine allocation will be provided through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Columbia Place Mall CVC site will follow South Carolina’s vaccine eligibility requirements.
“We are committed to the equitable distribution of the vaccine and our top priority is to ensure everyone who wants a vaccine gets one,” said Gracia Szczech, regional administrator for FEMA Region IV. “Opening the community vaccination center at Columbia Place Mall will help make that happen.”
According to FEMA, the site in northeast Columbia was identified using a range of criteria, most central to those is the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). This tool was created to help emergency response planners and public health officials identify and map communities that will most likely need support before, during, and after a hazardous event. The index takes into consideration critical data points, including socioeconomic status, household composition, minority status, languages, housing type and transportation.
The goal of establishing these joint federal pilot centers is to continue to expand the rate of vaccinations in an efficient, effective and equitable manner, with an explicit focus on making sure that communities with a high risk of COVID-19 exposure and infection are not left behind.