Free COVID-19 testing is returning to Hilton Head. Here’s when, where
Free COVID-19 testing will soon be available again on Hilton Head Island.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control will host testing clinics between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. each Monday from Sept. 13 through Nov. 29 at Fire Station 4 at 400 Squire Pope Road.
The tests are free. No appointments or insurance are needed. IDs are not required.
Results should be available within 48 to 72 hours, according to the town.
The island has lacked a free testing site for months.
Delta’s impact
Island residents had to travel to Tanger Outlets 2 in Bluffton to visit a free testing clinic this summer.
Why?
Hilton Head Hospital shut down its drive-thru testing site in late April as COVID-19 cases dropped this spring.
But that was before the super-contagious delta variant began to rapidly spread across South Carolina in July, leading to a record-breaking spike in infections and a surge in testing demand.
Lack of testing sites
Jeremy Clark, CEO of Hilton Head Regional Healthcare, on Sept. 1 said the hospital had no plans to resume drive-thru testing, given the availability of tests at DHEC’s Tanger clinic.
Town Council member Alex Brown, though, during an Aug. 19 meeting had previously argued that the town should try to support free testing sites on the island.
On Wednesday the town announced the new Fire Station 4 testing clinics.
Vaccine events
The town also has partnered with DHEC and Hilton Head Hospital to host four coronavirus vaccine events in the coming weeks.
Here are the dates and times:
A vaccine clinic will be held Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Fire Station 7 at 1001 Marshland Road near the Cross Island Parkway. Hilton Head Hospital will administer Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, which is authorized for people 18 or older.
Another event will be held on Friday, Sept. 17 at Chaplin Community Park, 11 Cast Net Drive, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. DHEC will offer the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is available to people 12 or older.
Hilton Head Hospital will offer J&J doses on Saturday, Sept. 18 from noon to 3 p.m. at the Hilton Head Island Wine & Food Festival at Lowcountry Celebration Park, 94 Pope Ave. The festival is a ticketed event.
DHEC will provide the second dose of Pfizer’s vaccine during a Friday, Oct. 8 clinic at Chaplin Community Park from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The clinic is scheduled to be held three weeks after the Sept. 17 Pfizer event.
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 11:21 AM.
