What Beaufort Co. seniors should know as COVID-19 vaccine sign-ups open Wednesday
UPDATE: Hilton Head Regional Healthcare’s website was not loading in some Web browsers early Wednesday. A spokesperson recommended that residents try to switch browsers when accessing the site. A reporter was able to reach the vaccine registration form using Firefox at about noon. The health system had already received over 10,000 sign-up submissions as of Wednesday morning. Residents can also email HHRH_COVID_VACCINE_INFORMATION@tenethealth.com with the following information if they are unable to reach the form: First and last name, phone number, email address, vaccination phase (“1a” or “70+”) and whether they want an appointment at Hilton Head or Coastal Carolina hospitals.
Hospitals are scrambling to prepare for a deluge of phone calls as seniors in Beaufort and Jasper counties become eligible Wednesday to register for COVID-19 vaccination appointments.
“There’s going to be a crush of individuals,” said state Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, during a virtual community forum Monday. “There’s going to be a period of extreme frustration here, obviously.”
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control announced Monday that people 70 or older could sign up for appointments starting Wednesday, changing the distribution plan in a bid to speed up the state’s mass vaccination campaign.
Hospital leaders face a daunting task. And county residents might have to wait days or weeks to get a shot even if they register Wednesday. Hundreds of other Phase 1a-eligible workers are in the queue.
Beaufort Memorial Hospital, for example, as of Tuesday had already booked Phase 1a appointments into mid-March, CEO Russell Baxley said.
Roughly 1,400 appointments are scheduled in the next month alone, Baxley said Tuesday.
That doesn’t mean everyone who’s 70 or older has to wait two months to get their first dose, Baxley said. Some slots may be available as early as Friday or next week.
But actually getting a vaccine depends on whether there’s enough supply to meet demand. And the state’s supply is still extremely limited. Long waits should be expected. Beaufort Memorial Hospital as of Tuesday had only about 1,140 Pfizer-BioNTech doses on hand, according to DHEC data.
“Just because you’re scheduling an appointment does not guarantee the vaccine,” Baxley said Tuesday.
DHEC’s rapidly changing guidance, meanwhile, has added to the confusion. The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette have received dozens of vaccine questions in recent days from seniors and essential workers trying to navigate the complex rollout.
Here’s what we know about the scheduling process, according to DHEC and hospital officials:
Registration process
People 70 or older in Beaufort and Jasper counties can start registering for vaccine appointments through a variety of channels Wednesday. Walk-ins aren’t permitted, DHEC said on Monday.
DHEC is launching a website Wednesday at scdhec.gov/vaxlocator that will display which local providers are registering seniors for inoculations. The website will include providers’ contact information.
The state is also manning a help line at (855) 472-3432 to assist seniors in figuring out where they can get vaccinated.
Each provider, meanwhile, is handling sign-ups a bit differently. Local providers include Beaufort Memorial, Hilton Head and Coastal Carolina hospitals, according to a version of DHEC’s vaccine website that was originally published Monday but then made inaccessible.
Doctors Care locations in Beaufort County and Encompass Rehabilitation Hospital of Bluffton will eventually join the program, the DHEC website said Monday. A Doctors Care spokesperson on Tuesday didn’t respond to a phone message and email seeking clarification on the matter. The Encompass facility in Bluffton also didn’t return a phone message.
A DHEC spokesperson said an updated list of vaccine providers was forthcoming Tuesday, but that information wasn’t available by 3:30 p.m.
At Beaufort Memorial Hospital, meanwhile, residents can contact the medical center Wednesday to request an appointment in different ways, Baxley said.
They can call (843) 522-5670 to speak with an operator or leave a voicemail (the call center is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), email the hospital at vaccine@bmhsc.org or submit information via an online form that’s live on the hospital’s website starting late Tuesday: beaufortmemorial.org/vaccine or https://care.bmhsc.org/access-care/covidvaccinesignup/?utm_source=bmhs&utm_medium=redirect-url
Courtney McDermott, a spokesperson for the hospital, said each individual will have to provide the hospital with a working email address.
Couples who share an email account can’t both list that account as their own.
That’s because Beaufort Memorial Hospital, at the end of each day, is planning to take all of the email addresses from interested seniors, put them into a spreadsheet and upload them into a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention program called the Vaccine Administration Management System, or VAMS.
The CDC will then email residents a link to access VAMS so they can register and choose where they want to get a shot and when. VAMS lists available appointments.
“A lot of this help desk, troubleshooting that people have to do, you actually have to call the VAMS help desk line,” Baxley said.
An FAQ on VAMS and CDC information can be found at: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/reporting/vams/faqs.html
Baxley added that Beaufort Memorial Hospital has already identified roughly 18,000 patients 70 or older through its electronic medical records system that the medical center will preemptively upload into VAMS, so those people will receive an email from the CDC and can choose whether they want to register for a shot.
The hospital is trying to lessen the wave of calls expected Wednesday, Baxley said.
Jeremy Clark, CEO of Hilton Head Regional Healthcare, during the Monday community forum said his health care system will handle registrations much like Beaufort Memorial Hospital.
The system includes Hilton Head and Coastal Carolina hospitals.
Clark, in a later statement, wrote that roughly 2,000 Phase 1a appointments were already booked at the hospitals as of Tuesday, and the system was “exploring ways to add capacity.”
Those 70 or older may get an appointment at some point in January or February, he wrote.
Seniors can go to http://www.hiltonheadregional.com/ to start the registration process Wednesday morning, Clark wrote. At the top of that page, there will be a link called “Drive-Thru Testing & Vaccination Information.”
After clicking the link, seniors will have to scroll down to the “COVID-19 vaccinations heading” and complete a form, Clark wrote.
“We believe that our online system will be able to handle the demand,” he wrote.
Seniors will eventually have to provide a driver’s license or other form of ID at their appointment to confirm eligibility. Permanent S.C. residency isn’t required to get a shot.
Mounting bewilderment
Many seniors in recent days have expressed confusion about when they will become eligible, when they should check DHEC’s website and whom to contact to schedule appointments.
Martha Conway, 85, of Beaufort, didn’t know about the state’s help line or online vaccine locator — which will display site locations Wednesday — until a reporter explained them in a phone call Tuesday morning.
Conway said she doesn’t have a computer. She has only a cell phone.
It’s been frustrating, she said, trying to figure out what’s going on.
Joyce Fazio, of Hilton Head Island, who will be eligible starting Wednesday (she joked that her age is a “closely held secret”), as of early Tuesday also hadn’t heard of the state’s latest eligibility announcement.
“It’s been impossible,” Fazio said of navigating the rollout. “Everything changes from moment to moment.”
“What is the website I go to?” she asked.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHow we covered this story
Facts about COVID-19 vaccine distribution in South Carolina are changing rapidly. The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette are trying to publish important information as quickly and accurately as possible. This story may be updated if more information becomes available or if facts become clearer.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 3:45 PM.
