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SC hospitals begin receiving the COVID-19 vaccine

Some hospitals are planning to receive the vaccine in a couple of days and have a distribution in plan in place.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Some hospitals in South Carolina began receiving the coronavirus vaccine on Monday, while others continue to wait on its arrival.

With hospitals in South Carolina receiving the vaccine, many people are wondering when and where they will be available.

News 19 checked in with hospitals in the Midlands to find the answer.

Lexington Medical Center

At Lexington Medical Center, they're expecting to get doses of the coronavirus as soon as Monday, December 14th.

The health system says they already have a plan in place to distribute the vaccine.

Hospitals already have freezers that will be able to store the vaccine at the required cold temperature.

In an email, the hospital system said, "In addition, there is a plan to begin vaccinating front line employees, and subsequently the rest of Lexington Medical Center employees who choose to receive the vaccine."

Orangeburg Regional Medical Center

The Regional Medical Center in Orangeburg announced they'll be receiving the vaccine soon.

Kirk Wilson, the RMC Interim CEO, said in a press release, "We are excited to be selected for Phase 1A of the State's plan so that we can begin offering and administering the Pfizer vaccine to our healthcare employees as soon as this week."

The first doses will be offered and administered to bedside healthcare workers.

RMC says they'll administer the vaccine through a phased approach based upon risk categories.

RELATED: DHEC: 2,364 new confirmed new cases of COVID-19, 11 additional deaths

CVS

CVS says they're ready to help give the vaccine at long-term facilities.

They've partnered with more than 40,000 facilities as a vaccination partner.

When vaccines are more widely available, they'll make it available at CVS pharmacies.

They'll be able to administer 20 to 25 million shots per month.

CVS says in 2021, the vaccine will be in all of their stores. While they're not sure when exactly that will be, they say that could be as soon as late March.

Walgreens

Walgreens says they'll be assisting 35,000 long-term facilities across the country.

They said in an email, "Walgreens has the pharmacist expertise, data and reporting infrastructure, cold storage capacity and nationwide footprint required to manage the complexities of administering a COVID-19 vaccine."

News 19 has reached out to Prisma Health, Providence and Newberry hospitals and are still waiting on a response if they have received or when they plan to get the vaccine.

RELATED: US plans to ship 6 million Moderna doses once FDA approves vaccine

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