140 coronavirus vaccinations reported in Beaufort Co. Tuesday; 12 new cases confirmed
State health officials on Tuesday announced that only 140 more Beaufort County residents have started COVID-19 vaccination.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, though, reports its new vaccine data on a two-day lag.
Dr. Cyrus Shahpar, COVID-19 data director at the White House, in a recent tweet wrote that Tuesdays are typically the lowest reporting day of the week for new doses administered nationwide.
The Tuesday data capture “many doses administered over the weekend,” Shahpar wrote.
Regardless, Beaufort County vaccine providers have been moving quickly through weekly shipments of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna doses, state data show. Some Johnson & Johnson doses have also been distributed at area pharmacies.
Roughly 770 county residents per day have started vaccination in the past week, according to residency-specific DHEC data that The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette began to track on March 14.
DHEC didn’t release the residency data until early March.
Laura Renwick, a DHEC spokesperson, also said that as of about 4 p.m. Tuesday there were 150 vaccine appointments still available at a state-run mobile clinic in Dillon.
The clinic is from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday for Phase 1a- or 1b-eligible people. Moderna doses will be administered at 1647 Commerce Drive.
To make an appointment, people can visit https://cvas.dhec.sc.gov/ or call 1-866-365-8110 or 843-774-5611.
Local coronavirus spread, meanwhile, is still low after the Palmetto State’s holiday surge of infections.
Twelve new COVID-19 cases and six probable infections were reported in Beaufort County on Tuesday. No new deaths were announced.
Jasper County recorded one probable case and no deaths Tuesday.
Local numbers
COVID-19 inoculation rate for Beaufort County residents as of Sunday (the most recent date for which data are available): 3,219 vaccine recipients per 10,000 residents. That’s the fourth-highest rate in South Carolina, though it could be inflated to some degree due to a ZIP code-level data issue.
Number of residents who have received at least one dose: 50,319
Total number of doses administered: 65,860
New first-dose vaccinations announced Tuesday: 140
Percentage of the county’s 15 and older population who have received at least one dose: 32.1%
Biggest vaccinator: Beaufort Memorial Hospital, which has administered 15,790 first Pfizer-BioNTech doses since mid-December
Statewide numbers
New first-dose vaccinations announced Tuesday: 9,749
Number of residents who have received at least one dose: 1,082,998
Percentage of the state’s 15 and older population who have received at least one dose: 26.3%
Percentage of S.C. residents who have completed vaccination: 14.1%
ZIP code data
Okatie’s ZIP code of 29909, which includes Sun City Hilton Head, continues to lead the county with 11,185 resident vaccinations since late last year, though that may be an overcount, according to DHEC data. Bluffton’s 29910 ZIP code has recorded 10,531 resident inoculations, which is the second-highest figure in the county.
Hilton Head Island’s 29926 ZIP code, covering the north side, has 8,583 vaccinations. The 29928 ZIP code, covering the southeastern part of the island, has 7,149 vaccinations, according to DHEC.
Beaufort’s 29902 ZIP code has reported 3,407 inoculations.
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 ZIP code data.
More information on ZIP code-level vaccine 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 4,431 coronavirus cases reported in the past year. Beaufort’s 29902 ZIP code has recorded 2,180 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 1,174 cases. The 29926 ZIP code on the north side has 1,972 cases, according to DHEC data.
Okatie’s 29909 ZIP code has reported 1,131 cases.
Virus spread in Beaufort County
Seven-day average of new cases: 14.2
Total cases: 14,469 confirmed, according to DHEC
Total deaths: 185 confirmed, according to DHEC
Two-week cumulative incidence rate as of Sunday: 105.1 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.
This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 2:28 PM.
