Hilton Head Regional says staffing issue didn’t cause vaccine cancellations. What did?
Hilton Head area hospitals were forced to cancel COVID-19 vaccination appointments this week, but not because of a staffing shortage, according to Hilton Head Regional Healthcare.
It’s unknown how many Phase 1a members were affected. The health care system won’t release the number of cancellations, according to Daisy Burroughs, a spokesperson. She didn’t explain why when asked.
Some local residents got a confusing set of emails Tuesday detailing the cancellations — one email was sent by the health care system, and one email was sent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC’s email said the local vaccine appointments were canceled due to “clinic staffing availability.” But the health care system’s email said that South Carolina’s limited supply of doses had impacted vaccine operations at Hilton Head and Coastal Carolina hospitals.
Burroughs, a spokesperson for Tenet Healthcare, which owns the two hospitals, in a phone call Thursday said that the CDC’s Vaccine Administration Management System, or VAMS, had generated emails with incorrect information.
Vaccine supply limitations, she said, forced Hilton Head Regional Healthcare to cancel first and second dose appointments that were originally scheduled for this week and next week.
People whose appointments were canceled will be “prioritized” once enough doses are in hand, and the hospitals will reschedule second shot appointments first.
The health care system also contacted the CDC to address the VAMS issue, Burroughs said. The CDC didn’t respond to a request for comment Thursday.
It’s unclear what exactly led to the vaccine supply problem.
Nick Davidson, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s senior deputy for public health, told reporters Wednesday that South Carolina received just under 100,000 first doses this week, which is higher than usual.
Where those doses flow in the state, though, changes week to week. Vaccine providers order doses in VAMS, and DHEC chooses how many shots those sites ultimately receive due to the state’s still-limited supply, which is determined by a federal algorithm.
When making its in-state decisions, DHEC takes into account the state’s vaccine supply, providers’ utilization rates and order requests, according to Davidson. A more clear-cut methodology for DHEC’s allocations is expected to be used sometime this spring.
Russell Baxley, CEO of Beaufort Memorial Hospital, last Thursday said BMH hadn’t received all of the doses it requested over the past two weeks.
“Supply is so unpredictable,” Baxley said.
DHEC data show that Hilton Head Hospital received only 210 new first Pfizer-BioNTech doses earlier this week. Coastal Carolina Hospital got zero new first doses, according to the data, which is current as of Wednesday.
Pfizer’s first dose shipments usually arrive on Tuesdays, Baxley previously said.
The company’s deliveries last week, though, were delayed by a major winter storm that hit Memphis and Louisville, where FedEx and UPS, respectively, have distribution hubs.
Hilton Head Regional Healthcare was forced to cancel fewer than 100 first dose appointments due to those issues and was rescheduling them for this week, Burroughs wrote in a Feb. 17 statement. She added that the health care system expected to honor nearly 2,000 second dose appointments last week.
Hilton Head Hospital received 175 first Pfizer doses last week, according to DHEC data. Coastal Carolina Hospital, meanwhile, seemingly got none, the data show.
Shere Colborn, who has lived in Bluffton for over 45 years, was caught up in the dose shortfall.
Colborn was scheduled to get vaccinated this week at Hilton Head Hospital after booking the appointment more than a month ago.
But Colborn, a Phase 1a member, was one of those who got the CDC’s puzzling cancellation email.
She’s now planning to get her first dose at the Walmart in Hardeeville next Tuesday. It’s been a frustrating experience, Colborn said, bouncing from provider to provider.
Jeremy Clark, CEO of Hilton Head Regional Healthcare, in a statement Thursday wrote that he understands residents’ concerns.
“We share in the community’s frustration. Our goal is to vaccinate people as swiftly and as safely as possible,” he wrote. “This week, we received significantly less vaccine doses than requested and this resulted in canceled appointments. Our vaccination clinics are fully staffed.”
