COVID-19 cases shift to Beaufort Co.’s younger age groups as 78% of seniors are vaccinated
COVID-19’s destructive and deadly path through Beaufort County is dramatically shifting this spring as more and more residents get vaccinated, according to a new analysis of state and local data.
The percentage of cases among younger age groups is rising, the average age of COVID-19 fatalities has dropped, and nursing home outbreaks are becoming less frequent.
The county’s data appear to show the positive effects of a nationwide push to inoculate as many seniors as possible earlier this year.
But the local trends also mirror national reports that link younger adults to a new surge of cases in the Upper Midwest, where COVID-19 hospitalizations are rapidly mounting in Michigan and Minnesota.
To be sure, Beaufort County’s coronavirus outbreak has improved since January, and daily infection counts remain low.
Health officials, though, are urging everyone who’s 16 or older to get vaccinated sooner rather than later.
“We’ve seen a swing to some of the younger age groups, 15- to 34-year-olds, with regard to the cases,” said Dr. Michael Kacka, a physician and chief medical officer for COVID-19 at the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Here’s a look at Beaufort County’s coronavirus data after four months of inoculations:
Risk of exposure
More than 40% of new infections reported in the county last month were among people 30 or younger, according to an analysis of DHEC data.
That’s the highest that age group’s percentage has been since at least October. (The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette reviewed six months of state and local data for this story.)
The 21- to 30-year-old age range accounted for 17.4% of cases last month.
Only 15.9% of March infections, meanwhile, were recorded in the 61 and up age group, data show. That’s the lowest percentage for older county residents since at least fall 2020.
“Remember the days, the awful days, when we were having nursing home outbreaks?” asked Dr. Jane Kelly, assistant state epidemiologist, in a Tuesday interview. “That’s almost ground to a halt, because they’ve been vaccinated. And younger folks are more likely to have jobs where they’re face to face with the public and they’re exposed more. Or they’re more likely to be out in social situations where they’re exposed more.”
The number of coronavirus vaccines administered to younger adults in Beaufort County is also far lower than the number of doses provided to residents who are 65 or older.
Just 3,038 residents who are aged 25 to 34 have received at least one shot, according to DHEC. That age group represents 4.4% of vaccine recipients in the county, even though it accounts for 11.2% of the estimated population, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Those figures aren’t surprising, considering South Carolina opened vaccine eligibility to everyone 16- to 54-years-old on March 31, while people 70 and up were able to start booking appointments in mid-January.
Dr. Stephen Larson, medical director for Beaufort Memorial Hospital’s emergency center, said he’s noticed younger people testing positive recently, while COVID-19 admissions for long-term care facility residents have “really fallen off.”
New cases are still low countywide. And coronavirus hospitalizations have plummeted since mid-January. Hilton Head Regional Healthcare was treating only two COVID-19 patients on Thursday.
Yet the potential for coronavirus spread among young adults still poses a significant challenge.
Some states in the Upper Midwest are beginning to record a spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations as cases rise among young people, pandemic restrictions are loosened and the highly contagious B.1.1.7 variant continues to circulate.
In Michigan, for example, hospitalizations spiked 633% among people aged 30 to 39 from March 1 to March 23, according to data from the state health department.
Drop in deaths
The average age of those who died from COVID-19 in Beaufort County last month was roughly 72, according to an analysis of Coroner’s Office data, which is more detailed than DHEC’s mortality numbers.
That’s the lowest average age for COVID-19 deaths since at least October. And only about 16.5% of the county’s March fatalities were reported among residents 80 or older.
The Coroner’s Office also recorded just six coronavirus deaths in March, marking the fourth-lowest number of monthly deaths since the pandemic began. (Last March, May and November each had fewer deaths, according to the office, which provided its data on Tuesday.)
The county’s drop in fatal COVID-19 cases is likely connected to the high vaccination rates among seniors.
More than 38,600 county residents 65 and up have received at least one vaccine dose, according to DHEC. That’s about 78% of the age group’s estimated county population.
The coronavirus has preyed on the elderly in South Carolina since last spring, with over 37% of statewide COVID-19 deaths recorded among people 81 or older.
‘It’s so much better’
Nursing homes and assisted-living facilities around Beaufort County are also reporting fewer coronavirus issues, state data show.
Only three long-term care centers had an active outbreak as of Wednesday, according to DHEC. An outbreak is considered active when at least one resident or staff member has tested positive for COVID-19 within the past 14 days.
There were seven outbreaks in mid-December, according to archived DHEC records.
“We used to see about 10 to 12 facilities per day with clusters of cases (statewide). Now we’re seeing about one to two per week, and that makes sense,” said Kacka, the DHEC official. “This was the vulnerable population that was targeted for the vaccine rollout.”
DHEC late last year allocated thousands of Moderna doses to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention partnership that vaccinated residents and staff at long-term care facilities.
It’s still hard to quantify the CDC program’s impact in Beaufort County. DHEC doesn’t publish vaccine utilization rates for long-term care centers or real-time data on facility patient counts.
But at least one of the county’s hardest-hit nursing homes now has a reprieve from the deadly pathogen, according to its top executive.
Sandra Ferguson, administrator at Beaufort Nursing and Rehab, said the 170-bed facility reported two resident cases and one staff case in late March. (DHEC as of Wednesday listed the home as having an active outbreak, but reported that Beaufort Nursing and Rehab had three staff cases in the past 14 days. Ferguson said DHEC’s updates to that data are sometimes delayed.)
Other than the three most recent infections, Ferguson said COVID-19 conditions are improving.
Beaufort Nursing and Rehab had one of the area’s largest long-term care outbreaks last summer.
Now, over 70% of facility residents are typically vaccinated (the percentage can change week to week as patients come and go), Ferguson said.
“It’s so much better than what it was,” she said. “I believe the vaccine is working.”
