Some York County seniors may get COVID vaccine sooner than expected. There’s a catch.
York, Lancaster and Chester county seniors may get COVID vaccines earlier than they’d planned. They’ll just have to be hospitalized.
On Thursday the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control announced state hospitals should start to vaccinate admitted patients 65 and older. Eligible patients shouldn’t have COVID-19 and a medical provider should determine the vaccine is warranted.
Senior hospital patients weren’t initially part of the first wave of eligible vaccine candidates, which included front-line hospital workers and residents of extended care and nursing home sites.
“By moving up these patients who are currently admitted in our hospitals we are ensuring that the most vulnerable among us are being vaccinated as quickly as possible,” said DHEC interim public health director Brannon Traxler.
South Carolina received its first federal allocation of the now 146,500 Pfizer vaccines on Dec. 14. Of them, more than 34,000 were received this week. More than 62,000 people in South Carolina have had their first of two needed shots for the Pfizer vaccine. Almost 7,700 have received both shots. Another near 84,000 first phase residents have appointments for vaccination, per DHEC.
Senior hospital patients now join the list.
“Vaccination to these individuals can occur immediately, depending on availability of vaccine and staffing,” Traxler said.
Three weeks ago Piedmont received 975 Pfizer doses from the company. That number was the smallest allotment (less than half the nearest hospital) among the 17 hospitals or hospital systems listed. Another 21 mostly smaller allotments came to various hospitals from DHEC.
Through Thursday Piedmont used 116% of its doses, made possible after it was determined and approved that hospitals can use remaining vaccine once the five doses (some have had enough vaccine for six or seven doses) from a vile are used. No other hospital among the 17 to get vaccine from Pfizer has used all its vaccine. The average was a 40% usage rate, through Thursday.
This week Piedmont began administering the second shot to hospital staff that received first ones three weeks ago. On Thursday Piedmont announced infectious disease specialist Arash Poursina and EMS chief Eric Morrison were among the first to receive their second shots.
In a video provided by Piedmont, Poursina said there haven’t been any notable side effects since the first dose and the second one is welcomed.
“It gives me a ray of hope,” Poursina said of the vaccine. “Of course I’m hoping that a lot more people get vaccinated and hopefully this might help move the needle in the right direction for a change.”
Medical University of South Carolina hospitals in Lancaster and Chester counties aren’t broken out in the DHEC list of vaccine distribution. MUSC operates hospitals in various parts of the state. As a whole, MUSC received more than 18,000 Pfizer doses from the company and has a 55% usage rate through Thursday. That allocation is the most of any state hospital system.
The Herald previously reported that more than 400 hospital workers in Lancaster and Chester counties received first dose vaccinations as of late December.
To date, York County has 16,925 coronavirus cases with 188 deaths. Lancaster County has 5,819 cases and 94 deaths. Chester County has 2,471 cases and 46 deaths.
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 3:38 PM.
