At the University of South Carolina Medical Center, insufficient vaccine supplies mean that the Charleston Hospital system does not allow anyone to sign a new appointment calendar.
“We do not have enough vaccine to plan new appointments,” said Dr. Danielle Scheurer, chief executive of MUSC Health.
Similar problems are reported in other hospitals in South Carolina. According to data reported to the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control, the amount of vaccine included in shipments this week was lower for both MUSC and Prisma Health, the largest health system in the state, than at any time since early January.
“It’s just harder to plan,” Scheurer said. “We did not expect to receive so much less.”
Scheurer said the first dose of appointments are being rescheduled so that vials can be used for second doses. The hospital cannot completely cancel patients, she said, but second doses must be prioritized because patients cannot wait too long after the first round.
According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the best way to get the second dose of Pfizer vaccine is three weeks after the first dose. The agency said people can wait up to six weeks if needed, but after that period there is no evidence to get the second chance.
Statewide numbers
New cases reported: 718 confirmed, 156 probably.
Total cases in SC: 437 806 confirmed, 69 106 likely.
Percent positive: 6.6 percent.
New deaths reported: 21 confirmed, six likely.
Total deaths in SC: 7,436 confirmed, 921 probably.
Percentage of ICU beds filled: 73 percent.
How does SC count in vaccines administered per 100,000 people?
42 on 22 February according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Areas hardest hit
In the total number of newly confirmed cases, the provinces of Greenville (83), Charleston (56) and Spartanburg (53) achieved the highest numbers.
What about the three provinces?
Charleston County had 56 new cases on Feb. 23, while Berkeley had 16 and Dorchester 14.
Deaths
All of the newly confirmed deaths reported were among people 65 years and older.
Hospitalizations
Of the 977 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital on February 23, 232 were in the ICU and 126 used ventilators.
What do experts say?
The CDC studied a school district in Georgia during a month of personal instruction and found that teachers were more likely to be the spreaders of the virus than students.
The finding is relevant to plans to completely reopen schools, as educators are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, while most students do not.
Researchers at the country’s public health authority have written that it is possible to keep COVID-19 out of schools, even if the disease spreads in the community.
The CDC and local health officials studied eight elementary schools in the same school district in Georgia. In both cases of COVID-19 distribution, physical distance and mask wear were not always done properly.
Lunch time, if children do not have to wear masks, is presumably a culprit in the spread of the virus.
But the most important finding in the research was ‘that educators play an important role in the transfer of schools.’