South Carolina seniors 70 years and older are eligible to make appointments to get the coronavirus vaccine from Wednesday, officials confirmed Monday morning.
The news was first announced in a tweet by SC Senator Tom Davis, R-Beaufort.
Government @HenryMcMaster says that 70-year-olds can make vaccinations possible from Wednesday. I asked: who can give vaccines, how many doses are available, is VAMS the only way to make appointments? I will provide an update if I have answers to these questions. pic.twitter.com/N2sa0uuY8C
– Tom Davis (@senatortomdavis) 11 January 2021
From now on, access to the coronavirus vaccine was restricted to front-line health workers, residents and staff at long-term care facilities, hospital patients aged 65 or older who were not COVID-19 positive, and others included in the first phase. of vaccination of the vaccine.
During the first phase, the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control expanded the number of people eligible to be vaccinated in an effort to increase vaccinations.
DHEC has set a deadline on Friday for those admitted to the first phase, or their employers, to schedule an appointment, otherwise they will have to wait until one of the later phases. Officials said they plan to evaluate how many people will report in the coming days to determine when they should go to the next phase of implementation.
The expansion came as lawmakers expressed growing frustration over the deployment of the vaccine.
On January 5, Governor Henry McMaster set the Friday deadline, which DHEC accepted.
McMaster said Friday that the number of health workers not ready to get the vaccine was staggering and that it would only soon open the door for the next group.
He hinted that he was ready to use his executive power to qualify for an extension.
‘I can promise you whatever I have to do with the executive power given to the governor to move the lines, to get the vaccine into people’s arms as quickly as possible, and I expect our announcements soon will have. ‘
Asked by The Post and Courier on Friday what he would tell seniors about why they could not get a chance in South Carolina, while other states have already made seniors eligible, the governor said DHEC trusts the CDC on guidelines and best practices.
“The path chosen is considered the best because the idea was to vaccinate the hospital workers who care for COVID patients or to be in the hospital who are very ill and do not have the virus. We wanted to to make hospitals work to take care of the rest of us. ‘
“But I’m with you,” he told The Post and Courier. “It’s time to have a more simplified streamlined process to cater for older people and those with severe conditions of any age to get the vaccinations. Hospitals work 24 hours a day to find ways to get more and more people to accommodate, even to set up inpatient clinics. ‘
More details are expected later Monday.
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Seanna Adcox contributed to this report.
Reach Gregory Yee at 843-937-5908. Follow him on Twitter @GregoryYYee.