Walgreens, Publix offering SC seniors coronavirus vaccine in York, Lancaster, Chester
There’s now at least one coronavirus vaccine provider in York, Lancaster and Chester counties offering appointments for those 70 and older, officials announced.
Last week, South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control and the governor’s office announced people 70 or older regardless of health status and preexisting conditions can begin scheduling an appointment for the coronavirus vaccine. Initially, just two locations — MUSC sites in Lancaster and Chester — offered appointments.
As of Tuesday, nine providers, including several local pharmacy sites, are offering coronavirus vaccine appointments to those in South Carolina who are 70 and older, according to DHEC’s online locator tool.
During an online forum Tuesday, organized by the state’s 5th District U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, DHEC’s interim director of public health Brannon Traxler said the state receives roughly 60,000 first doses of the vaccines a week. The state has received a total of 317,975 doses and administered a total of 163,800 doses as of Tuesday, she said.
Traxler encouraged those eligible and interested in making an appointment to check DHEC’s online locator tool daily as more and more providers are added each week. Residents, particularly those without internet, also can call the agency’s Care Line at 1-855-472-3432 to get information on how to schedule an appointment with nearby providers, she said.
“Often those red dots will become green, or new green dots will have been added from day to day,” Traxler told Norman. “If people are scheduling and they’re looking and the appointments are far out, unfortunately, at this time, it likely means that that vaccine provider, that’s when they anticipate that they can promise or expect to have vaccine.”
Here’s where South Carolina seniors can make appointments in York, Lancaster and Chester counties:
York County
- Lake Wylie Publix Pharmacy, 158 SC-274
- Fort Mill Publix Pharmacy, 928 Gold Hill Rd.
- Rock Hill Publix Pharmacy, 2186 Cherry Rd.
- Rock Hill Publix Pharmacy, 1735 Heckle Blvd.
- Rock Hill Walgreens, 2000 Celanese Rd.
Lancaster County
Indian Land Publix Pharmacy, 8360 Charlotte Hwy.
- MUSC-Health Lancaster Hospital, 800 West Meeting St.
- Lancaster Walgreens, 1101 Highway 9 Bypass W.
Chester County
- MUSC-Health Chester Hospital, 1 Medical Park Dr.
Residents can schedule an appointment on MUSC’s website. Residents can call or schedule an appointment on Publix’s website and Walgreen’s website.
More COVID-19 vaccine locations
MUSC is the only hospital system in the area currently offering appointments to the general public. Rock Hill’s Piedmont Medical Center told The Herald that the hospital is “working with state and local leaders to plan for community vaccinations.”
As of Monday, the hospital had administered 102% of the Pfizer-BioNTech doses — or 3,385, to staff, according to DHEC data. A tray of the Pfizer vaccine holds a minimum of 975 doses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Providers found that some vials, thought to have five doses, actually held six or seven, and the Food and Drug Administration later advised that it was acceptable to use all doses.
Piedmont’s infectious disease specialist Dr. Arash Poursina, who was among the first at the hospital to get the vaccine, said during Norman’s forum Tuesday that the hospital’s vaccine distribution effort is a “work in progress” and encouraged residents to be patient.
Both coronavirus vaccines currently available require two doses.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires the shots be administered at least 21 days apart. The Moderna vaccine, meanwhile, requires the doses be separated at least 28 days. DHEC officials have encouraged residents to schedule their second shot as soon as possible, but Poursina said if residents have trouble scheduling an appointment for the second dose, not to worry.
“There is no maximum number of days that has been put as a limit that a person can wait to get the second dose,” Poursina told Norman. “If a person cannot get the dose exactly at 21 days in case of Pfizer and exactly at 28 days in case of the Moderna vaccine, and they need to wait a little longer, there is no maximum cap on that.”
Poursina insisted neither vaccine is better than the other. With both doses, the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are 94%-95% effective. Whether a resident gets the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna vaccine, it’s important that both shots came from the same brand, Poursina said.
“My advice is to get whichever one you get as soon as possible,” Poursina said. “Based on the studies that were used to obtain the emergency use authorization...they are both very, very effective. In fact, it makes most infectious disease specialists very giddy with happiness when we see the numbers. No vaccines have ever been this effective.”
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 4:28 PM.
