Horry County government now able to vaccinate the public following dispute with DHEC

After a clash with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) that led to the agency withholding future vaccine shipments, Horry County announced Thursday that it would begin vaccinating members of the public with its left over supply beginning next week.

Beginning Monday, people eligible for the vaccine under Phase 1b will be able to schedule an appointment on the DHEC website and receive doses of the Moderna vaccine through Horry County Fire/Rescue, the county’s fire and emergency response department. People aged 55 and older, as well as people aged 16-54 with certain medical conditions, frontline workers including teachers, police officers and grocery store clerks, people in group homes or jails, migrant farm workers, and medical professionals who weren’t vaccinated under Phase 1a.

Scheduling an appointment is free, and receiving the vaccine will be free, said Horry County spokesperson Kelly Moore. Moore added that while it’s not clear how many people the county will be able to vaccinate, the county will ensure that everyone who receives a first dose will also receive a second dose.

If you’re eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine under Phase 1a or Phase 1b, you can schedule an appointment through DHEC here. You can learn more about who qualifies under Phase 1a and Phase 1b here and here.

According to DHEC data, Horry County Fire Rescue has received a total of 5,400 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, or enough to fully vaccinate 2,700 people. To date, Horry County Fire/Rescue has given out 2,131 first doses of the vaccine, mostly to county employees. If no other county employees receive the vaccine, the county will able to vaccinate more than 500 members of the public. If more county employees still need to receive a first dose, that figure will likely be lower.

The announcement by Horry County comes after a dispute between the local government and DHEC. The health department said it had concerns that the county was vaccinating ineligible people. As part of its vaccine program, officials allowed all county employees, as well as so-called designees, or “plus-ones” of county employees to receive the vaccine as well. One member of Horry County Council confirmed to The Sun News that he had helped an elderly friend receive the vaccine through Horry County Fire/Rescue.

After discussing the matter with county officials last Monday, DHEC’s Louis Eubank, the agency’s deputy branch chief of immunization, wrote in an email that Horry County would not receive any more shipments of the vaccine because it vaccinated people outside the Phase 1a protocols.

“As we discussed, law enforcement officers, public safety officers, county administrative staff, or other similar individuals are not Phase 1A eligible, and instead fall to Phase 1B, Phase 1C, or even Phase 2,” Eubank wrote in the email that was obtained by The Sun News.

The county took issue with DHEC’s rebuke, and responded in a statement that if they violated the rules that police officers and other public workers weren’t eligible for the vaccine, then other organizations violated the rules, too.

“The (Phase) 1A guidance on SCDHEC’s website appears to contradict what is included in their latest email to us—this just adds to the continued confusion for all of us,” Moore wrote in a statement last week. “It is time for SCDHEC to acknowledge the mismanagement and miscommunication early in the distribution process that led to these issues.”

Other ways to get vaccinated

As South Carolina expands the criteria for who is eligible for the vaccine, and as more doses become available, it’s becoming easier to receive the vaccine in Horry County.

On Wednesday, DHEC announced that it would host a mass vaccination event at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on March 9.

And on Thursday, DHEC announced that it would host a similar vaccine event in Conway.

DHEC said it would set up that vaccine clinic at the Conway Recreation Center March 11 as a part of Phase 1B of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The vaccine will be administered from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Those who are eligible can register online to take the vaccine in either Myrtle Beach or Conway next week at https://cvas.dhec.sc.gov or by calling the DHEC vaccine line at 1-866-365-8110.

DHEC did not say whether the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be administered next week. South Carolina is expected to begin receiving shipments of the newly-approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the end of this week.

The announcement from DHEC comes two days after Gov. Henry McMaster visited a mass-vaccination event and gave a press conference in Myrtle Beach. This week’s vaccination clinic was hosted by McLeod Health and the City of Myrtle Beach.

This story was originally published March 4, 2021 at 5:54 PM.