1,000+ more Beaufort Co. residents have received a COVID-19 vaccine, DHEC says Monday
Following Easter break, 1,051 new coronavirus vaccinations were reported among Beaufort County residents on Monday, according to state health officials.
About 40.1% of county residents who are 15 or older have now received a dose, according to DHEC, and 59.9% of residents have yet to get a shot.
Local vaccine providers have been moving quickly through weekly shipments of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson doses, state data show.
Coronavirus spread, meanwhile, remains low after a winter surge, though health experts are concerned that the United States could soon face a fourth wave of infections.
DHEC data show that daily case counts in South Carolina began to plateau about three weeks ago.
Fourteen new COVID-19 cases and nine probable infections were reported in Beaufort County on Monday. No new deaths were announced.
Jasper County recorded four cases, no probable infections and no deaths Monday.
Local numbers
COVID-19 inoculation rate for Beaufort County residents as of Sunday (the most recent date for which data are available): 4,013 vaccine recipients per 10,000 residents. That’s the fifth-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: 62,741
Total number of doses administered: 99,092
New first-dose vaccinations announced Monday: 1,051
Seven-day average of new first-dose vaccinations: 885 per day
Percentage of the county’s 15 and older population who have received at least one dose: 40.1%
Statewide numbers
New first-dose vaccinations announced Monday: 25,330
Number of residents who have received at least one dose: 1,376,994
Percentage of the state’s 15 and older population who have received at least one dose: 33.5%
Percentage of S.C. residents who have completed vaccination: 19.1%
ZIP code data
Bluffton’s ZIP code of 29910 now leads the county with 14,016 vaccinations since late last year. Okatie’s 29909 ZIP code, which includes Sun City Hilton Head, has recorded 12,608 resident inoculations, which is the second-highest figure in the county (though that may be an overcount).
Hilton Head Island’s 29926 ZIP code, covering the north side, has 10,428 vaccinations. The 29928 ZIP code, covering the southeastern part of the island, has 8,545 vaccinations, according to DHEC.
Beaufort’s 29902 ZIP code has reported 4,420 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 4,495 coronavirus cases reported in the past year. Beaufort’s 29902 ZIP code has recorded 2,193 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 1,189 cases. The 29926 ZIP code on the north side has 1,999 cases, according to DHEC data.
Okatie’s 29909 ZIP code has reported 1,159 cases.
Virus spread in Beaufort County
Seven-day average of new cases: 9 per day
Total cases: 15,011 confirmed, according to DHEC
Total deaths: 187 confirmed, according to DHEC
Two-week cumulative incidence rate as of Monday: 81.2 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.