Everyone 16 or older in Beaufort Co. to become eligible for COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday
All South Carolina residents who are 16 to 54 years old will become eligible for COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday, March 31, Gov. Henry McMaster and state health officials announced Friday.
A total of over 4 million people will qualify for inoculations Wednesday, if including previous phases.
The sweeping change in the state’s eligibility guidelines came a few days after Georgia made a similar decision. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control earlier this week also said that the agency had noticed a recent drop in demand during Phase 1b of vaccine distribution.
DHEC had originally planned to move into Phase 1c in mid-April — which would have included a range of professions — before then opening eligibility up to everyone else by early May.
That timeline was dramatically accelerated on Friday.
“Thanks to the tremendous efforts of our state’s health care professionals, we are now able to make the vaccine available to anyone who wants it, and to do so ahead of schedule,” McMaster wrote in a statement.
The state had moved into Phase 1b on March 8. That change expanded eligibility to everyone 55 to 64 years old, some people with underlying health conditions and frontline workers.
DHEC and other vaccine providers have since administered an average of 23,323 doses per day, the agency reported Friday.
More than 1.1 million state residents have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. And about 28% of residents who are 15 or older have gotten a shot.
“Spring, and especially Easter, is a time of hope, and with the COVID-19 vaccines becoming available to all South Carolinians, we can all be hopeful for a better tomorrow,” wrote Dr. Edward Simmer, DHEC’s director, in a news release Friday.
Beaufort County providers have also been moving quickly through weekly shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.
Over 54,000 county residents as of Wednesday had received at least one dose, according to DHEC data released Friday.
That means about 34% of the county’s 15 and older population has now had a shot.
If you’re becoming eligible on Wednesday, you can track down vaccines in a variety of ways.
You can check DHEC’s vaccine locator tool, which identifies local providers that are accepting appointments and displays what vaccine brands they offer: http://bit.ly/VaxLocator
You can also reach out to DHEC’s vaccine call center at 1-866-365-8110. Operators will help you navigate the registration process.
Pfizer’s product is the only vaccine currently available to teenagers 16 or 17 years old. Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines are all available to people 18 and older.
Nick Davidson, the agency’s senior deputy for public health, during a media briefing Friday said an increase in vaccine supply and falling Phase 1b demand factored into South Carolina’s eligibility decision.
Davidson said the state will receive 160,770 first doses next week, including a significant J&J influx of up to 28,900 doses. DHEC had originally expected only 5,700 new J&J doses.
“I’m sure there will be a little bit of a rush at the beginning,” Davidson said. “It does present its own challenges.
“We’ll be as ready as we can be for this.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 2:10 PM.
