COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Moderna vaccine is headed its way to South Carolina and plans are that the vaccine will be administered in long term care facilities next week.
DHEC officials say CVS Health and Walgreens will begin administering the vaccine.
"We look at this as vials of hope. We've got vials of hope on the way," said Richard Kimball, the Region Director for CVS Pharmacy in South Carolina. "We'll go out to these clinics starting December 28th and we'll vaccinate all willing patients. We hope to vaccine 100 percent in order to make our steps to really get immunity to this disease."
Kimball says they'll be going to almost 700 clinics here in the Palmetto State in the next few weeks.
"I think that the relationships that we've built through the flu clinics, through the relationships that we've built through our omni care channel have absolutely showed people that they can trust CVS and that's the reason why we're chosen for many of these clinics," explained Kimball.
Like the Pfizer vaccine, a second shot will be needed for patients who receive the first one.
CVS says they'll schedule a clinic 28 days after to make sure people get their second dose.
"It's really important that all of the people out there in the state of South Carolina, everybody everywhere, understands how important it is we get this vaccination," said Kimball. "I would just encourage every single family member, every single friend, every single person to go out and get this vaccine. If we want to end this virus, we need to get this vaccine and we encourage everyone to come to CVS when it's available."