Over 1,200 people in Beaufort, Jasper Co. have received the COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s who
More than 1,200 health care workers and first responders in Beaufort and Jasper counties have received the first dose of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, according to new state data.
The data provide a glimpse into how South Carolina has fared in its patchwork rollout of vaccines during Phase 1a — the earliest distribution period — amid criticism that the sprawling initiative is off to a slow start.
The state has been allocating Pfizer-BioNTech doses to hospitals and health care systems, before then giving those facilities the autonomy to vaccinate other local workers designated as “mission-critical.”
Doses are also being distributed to S.C. nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, but national pharmacy chains like CVS and Walgreens are handling that effort as part of a federal program.
The Palmetto State has allocated roughly 101,000 doses of Moderna’s vaccine to that initiative, but data on where those shots are being administered won’t be available until later this week.
People 75 years or older will be eligible to receive vaccines during Phase 1b of the state’s distribution plan. That phase is expected to begin sometime in February, although details about how it will work remain unclear.
DHEC says the campaign is beginning as expected, considering the challenge of transporting and distributing Pfizer’s vaccine — which has to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures of -70 degrees Celsius — to millions of people.
“It just takes a couple or few weeks to get into a smooth rhythm,” said Dr. Brannon Traxler, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s interim director of public health, during a briefing with reporters Monday.
‘Wanting to wait’
Beaufort Memorial Hospital as of Monday had received 2,450 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, according to data released by DHEC.
Only 30% of those doses — 747 — had been administered, though, according to the data.
(A spokesperson for the hospital, Courtney McDermott, on Monday said about 780 shots had actually been administered, meaning the medical center is closer to a 31% utilization rate.)
Regardless, those percentages aren’t out of the ordinary. Health officials across the country are increasingly frustrated by the lag in vaccinations. More than 13 million doses had been distributed in the United States as of Saturday, but just 4.2 million Americans had received their first shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
South Carolina, meanwhile, as of Monday had received more than 129,000 first doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, but had administered only 33% of those shots.
Operation Warp Speed, a federal initiative launched to expedite the development of COVID-19 vaccines, had originally predicted that 20 million people would be inoculated by the end of 2020.
The U.S. fell far short of that number.
State leaders around the country have blamed the holidays, a surge of coronavirus infections stressing medical centers and confusing logistical challenges for the slow start to the country’s ambitious drive to end the pandemic.
“We are hearing some reports of people who are wanting to wait until later in Phase 1a to get vaccinated to see how others do first,” Traxler, of DHEC, said Monday.
Traxler also stressed that hospitals are overloaded with COVID-19 patients, as the state reports a surge of infections and critically ill people who contracted the coronavirus.
Residents should focus on preventing the pathogen’s spread, Traxler said, to help hospitals refocus on the inoculation campaign.
“That will free up, certainly, staff to be able to provide vaccination,” she said.
At Beaufort Memorial Hospital, about 608 employees had been vaccinated as of Monday, based on the numbers provided by McDermott. That’s roughly 38% of the medical center’s workforce, which totals around 1,600.
The medical center had also provided about 175 shots to first responders, according to McDermott.
“Our goal is also to get them in Phase 1a. Police, fire, paramedics, EMT,” said hospital CEO Russell Baxley in an interview last month.
McDermott, the hospital spokesperson, on Monday could not immediately provide a breakdown by agency of who received doses.
Maj. Bob Bromage, a spokesperson for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, said about 70 sworn deputies had registered to get vaccinated at a hospital-run clinic early last week.
AJ Drake, a spokesperson for Beaufort County Emergency Medical Services, on Monday said EMS staff members were also vaccinated, but didn’t immediately know the number.
DHEC has recommended that Phase 1a of distribution include the following people: health care workers, first responders (including fire department and law enforcement personnel who provide emergency medical services), home health and Hospice employees, autopsy room staff, coroners, funeral home workers, dentists and pharmacists.
Other hospitals
Hilton Head Hospital as of Monday had received 300 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine, but had administered 373 shots, according to DHEC.
That’s because some vials filled with Pfizer’s vaccine contain six or seven doses, even though they were supposed to hold only five. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month gave the OK for pharmacists to use those extra doses.
A spokesperson for Tenet Healthcare, which owns the hospital, didn’t immediately clarify how the extra 73 doses were used. In a statement Monday, she wrote that Hilton Head Regional Healthcare was vaccinating employees, local physicians and EMS providers.
Coastal Carolina Hospital, meanwhile, as of Monday had administered 89% of its Pfizer allocation of 185 doses, DHEC data show.
Moderna vaccine
Area nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are also starting to vaccinate residents and staff, spokespeople confirmed Monday.
The total number of doses administered through the federal program in Beaufort County, though, is still unknown. DHEC says a national database called Tiberius will provide that data “in the coming days.”
Twenty-seven residents and 18 staff members at Life Care Center of Hilton Head, a nursing home with 88 licensed beds, according to DHEC records, received the first shot of Moderna’s vaccine on Saturday. CVS ran the event, spokesman Davis Lundy said. A second vaccine clinic will likely be offered at the facility later this month.
At three Bloom Senior Living facilities in Bluffton and Hilton Head Island, the director of education and development, Melissa Campbell, said voluntary vaccine clinics will begin Wednesday at alternating times.
Bloom, which owns assisted living centers around the U.S., conducted a company-wide survey recently to gauge vaccine interest, Campbell said.
Roughly 90% of residents want the vaccine, according to the survey. But only about 60% of staff members are interested in getting inoculated.
Campbell said she’s happy with that figure, considering how 30% of employees typically get the flu vaccine.
COVID-19 vaccinations at Bloom’s Lowcountry locations, she added, should reflect the national survey’s results.
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 3:40 PM.
