💉 COVID-ictionary: “Vaccine” (noun) “a preparation of killed microorganisms, living attenuated organisms, or living fully virulent organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease.”

Helping foster the feeling that there may be a bright light at the end of a very dark, socially-distanced + Zoom face-freezing tunnel, several COVID-19 vaccines were approved + released to the public toward the end of 2020.

Since the announcement of the vaccine rollout, we’ve seen quite a few questions about the process, the phases of distribution and the availability to the general public. So, we did a little research and have broken down the need-to-know details of South Carolina’s vaccine distribution plan.

Phases

○ Phase 1A – currently ongoing; deadline is this Friday, Jan. 15. Includes healthcare workers, long-term care facility residents and staff, home health and hospice workers, dentists, dental hygienists/assistants, pharmacists, hospitalized individuals over 65 (who test negative for COVID).

○ Phase 1B – expected late winter 2021. Includes those over 75 (with or without underlying health conditions), frontline essential workers.

○ Phase 1C – expected early spring 2021. Includes continued essential workers, those 65-74 (with or without underlying health conditions), those 16-64 with underlying health conditions.

○ Phase 2 – expected late spring to fall 2021. Includes everyone who wishes to be vaccinated (widespread availability).

See additional details on who’s included in each phase here.

Last week, Gov. Henry McMaster announced that everyone eligible for a vaccination in Phase 1A must either receive the vaccine or schedule an appointment to do so by this Friday, Jan. 15. Those who wish to receive the vaccine and don’t meet the deadline will have to wait until Phase 1B.

Are you a part of Phase 1A, would like to be vaccinated and haven’t done so yet? Find information on scheduling a vaccination appointment here.

Pfizer-BioNTech vs. Moderna

Currently, there are two COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved and are available in the US – Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. In South Carolina, all Moderna vaccine doses are currently being used for long-term care facility residents and staff. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses are available for all other Phase 1A recipients.

By the numbers*

○ 232,900 – the number of vaccine doses the state has received

○ 99,358 – the number of vaccine doses administered in the state

○ 94,926 – the number of appointments scheduled for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

○ 11,076 – the number of long-term care facility residents who’ve been vaccinated

○ 6,016 – the number of long-term care facility staff who’ve been vaccinated

*All numbers as of Sunday afternoon.

For more vaccine distribution information in South Carolina, check out the full COVID-19 Vaccine Plan here.

Poll

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