842 more Beaufort Co. residents have started COVID vaccination; 1 virus death reported
State health officials on Thursday reported that 842 more Beaufort County residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Roughly 29.4% of county residents who are 15 or older have now started vaccination, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Just over 70% of Beaufort County residents have yet to get a dose.
The county has one of the highest vaccination rates per 10,000 residents in South Carolina, according to DHEC. That rate may be slightly inflated due to a ZIP code-level data issue, The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette previously reported.
Regardless, Beaufort County vaccine providers have been moving quickly through weekly shipments of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna doses, state data show.
Those efforts may be bolstered by a new state allocation model that set Pfizer “baselines” beginning this week. Providers now expect a certain number of first doses each week, the newspapers reported.
A COVID-19 death was also reported in Beaufort County on Thursday. A person described as elderly died Monday after contracting the pathogen, according to DHEC.
Local coronavirus spread, meanwhile, is still slowing after the Palmetto State’s holiday surge of infections.
Twenty-two new COVID-19 cases and one probable infection were reported in Beaufort County on Thursday.
Jasper County recorded one new case and no deaths Thursday.
Local numbers
COVID-19 inoculation rate for Beaufort County residents as of Tuesday (the most recent date for which data are available): 2,944 vaccine recipients per 10,000 residents. That’s the fourth-highest rate in South Carolina, though it could be inflated to some degree.
Number of residents who have received at least one dose: 46,025
Total number of doses administered: 60,013
New first-dose vaccinations announced Thursday: 842
Percentage of the county’s 15 and older population who have received at least one dose: 29.4%
Biggest vaccinator: Beaufort Memorial Hospital, which has administered 14,242 first Pfizer doses since mid-December
DHEC releases most of its coronavirus vaccine data based on residency. If a Beaufort County resident is vaccinated out of state or in a different S.C. county, they would still be counted in DHEC’s Beaufort County-specific data.
Statewide numbers
New first-dose vaccinations announced Thursday: 25,066
Number of residents who have received at least one dose: 974,089
Percentage of the state’s 15 and older population who have received at least one dose: 23.7%
Percentage of S.C. residents who have completed vaccination: 13%
ZIP code data
Okatie’s ZIP code of 29909, which includes Sun City Hilton Head, continues to lead the county with 10,649 resident vaccinations since late last year, though that may be an overcount, according to DHEC data. Bluffton’s 29910 ZIP code has recorded 9,387 resident inoculations, which is the second-highest figure in the county.
Hilton Head Island’s 29926 ZIP code, covering the north side, has 7,914 vaccinations. The 29928 ZIP code, covering the southeastern part of the island, has 6,523 vaccinations, according to DHEC.
Beaufort’s 29902 ZIP code has reported 3,073 inoculations.
More information on ZIP code-level vaccination data can be found at the following link online: http://bit.ly/BeaufortCountyVaccines
Bluffton’s ZIP code of 29910, meanwhile, continues to lead the county with 4,394 coronavirus cases reported in the past year. Beaufort’s 29902 ZIP code has recorded 2,172 cases since March 2020, which is the second-highest figure in the county.
Hilton Head Island’s 29928 ZIP code, covering the southeastern part of the island, has 1,162 cases. The 29926 ZIP code on the north side has 1,950 cases, according to DHEC data.
Okatie’s 29909 ZIP code has reported 1,129 cases.
Virus spread in Beaufort County
Seven-day average of new cases: 12.2
Total cases: 14,394 confirmed, according to DHEC
Total deaths: 185 confirmed, according to DHEC
Two-week cumulative incidence rate as of Tuesday: 127.5 cases per 100,000 people, a “moderate” rate under DHEC’s definition. An incidence rate measures how quickly a disease is spreading through a given population.
Dr. Scott Curry, an infectious disease specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, has previously said counties should aim to have a two-week incidence rate of less than 50 new cases per 100,000 people.
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.
