Here’s how hospitals near Myrtle Beach will provide COVID vaccinations 7 days a week
With people over the age of 70 now eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine in South Carolina, Grand Strand hospitals are met with increased demand for a limited supply of doses.
Appointments to get the COVID-19 vaccine are running out fast, and both Tidelands Health and Conway Medical Center are working to offer the vaccines seven days a week. Tidelands, which has administered more than 5,300 doses of the coronavirus vaccine, transferred nearly 2,000 to Conway Medical Center in order to help meet the demand.
With the extra 1,950 doses, Conway Medical Center distribution site is able to stay open every day of the week, according to Chief Financial Officer Brian Argo. Still, health officials ask for patience as thousands of South Carolinians have requested appointments.
COVID spike comes during vaccine rollout
Tidelands Health has more than 30,000 people on its waiting list, according to Chief Operating Officer Gayle Resetar, while Conway has received more than 20,000 appointment requests. When the vaccines first became available, they were given to frontline healthcare workers only, until Gov. Henry McMaster announced earlier this month that those 70 and older would be able to make appointments.
“We gave out a lot of vaccines in the first month of this before the 70-year-olds were included [in phase 1A of the vaccination effort],” Resetar said. “So how many we gave out is how many people signed up. Now, it’s a completely different conversation.”
Horry and Georgetown counties are in the midst of a surge of coronavirus cases that resembles the summer months when the spread of the virus was rampant. Since Jan. 15, Horry County has added 6,379 cases to its count. Throughout the pandemic so far, 401 deaths have been recorded in Horry County, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. Georgetown County has reported 5,288 cases and 111 deaths since mid-March.
The hospitals are seeing the effects. As of Friday, 36 patients at Conway Medical Center were COVID-19 positive, with 15 in the ICU and eight on ventilators. At Tidelands, 14 of the 55 hospitalized coronavirus patients were in the ICU as of Friday.
More vaccination workers and a long road ahead
Facing a spike in cases while trying to administer the vaccine widely is a challenge, causing Tidelands to call for temporary workers to aid the vaccine effort.
“It’s absolutely a crisis,” Resetar said. “It’s very, very challenging for the workforce.”
Tidelands aimed to hire around 50 temporary workers, but more than 200 expressed interest. Resetar said she expects around 200 will work at least part-time in the vaccine distribution effort.
Even after the 70-plus age group is thoroughly vaccinated, health officials expect the effort to be drawn out to meet the demand of bigger groups.
“Even when we get toward the end of the 70-year-olds, there’s a massive group behind them in lots of other categories so this is going to be going on for quite some time,” Resetar said.
