Here are the Horry County ZIP codes with the highest and lowest COVID vaccination rates
During a renewed push for vaccine uptake as the contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread, the difference in vaccination rates in Horry County communities is stark — ranging from about 20% to more than 75% of people vaccinated.
The county as a whole has one of the highest vaccination rates in South Carolina at nearly 54% of eligible residents fully vaccinated, according to data from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. But when the area is put under a microscope, ZIP code level data shows a stark disparity in vaccination rates in the Myrtle Beach area.
Health experts are pushing for increased vaccine uptake as the area joins the rest of the state in grappling with the latest surge in COVID hospitalizations. In order to reach “herd immunity,” between 70 to 80% of the population should be immunized, doctors say. Local doctors are hopeful that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will temper some nerves of people who have not gotten the shot yet. Until Monday, the vaccine had been distributed under emergency use authorization by the FDA.
State, federal and local health agencies agree that vaccination is the best way to avoid severe illness due to COVID-19. While vaccinated people can still catch the virus, it’s rare. And when vaccinated people do get COVID-19, they’re much less likely to end up hospitalized or ventilated, and it’s incredibly rare for people who have been vaccinated to die of the virus, federal data shows.
“Even the breakthrough cases we’re seeing that are not requiring admission are usually very, very mild symptoms to no symptoms at all,” Dr. Paul Richardson, chief medical officer at Conway Medical Center, told The Sun News earlier this month.
The vaccination data below was taken from the state health department and compared to population data from the U.S. Census Bureau, so it reflects the percentage of the total population of each ZIP code that has been vaccinated. The vaccine has only been authorized for use for people 12 and older, so vaccination rates among the eligible population would reflect a higher percentage than vaccination rates of the total population.
Here are Horry County’s ZIP codes ranked by vaccination rate
1. 29572 - Myrtle Beach area
The 29572 ZIP code has the highest percentage of its population vaccinated, according to data from DHEC and the U.S. Census Bureau. At around 77% of its population vaccinated, this ZIP code is about 54 percentage points higher than the lowest ZIP code in Horry County.
2. 29582 - North Myrtle Beach area
In North Myrtle Beach, around 75.5% of people have been vaccinated, ranking second in the county. More than 12,500 people have gotten the shot who live in this ZIP code.
3. 29566 - Little River area
Just outside North Myrtle Beach, the Little River area in the 29566 ZIP code has around 70% of its residents vaccinated. Out of more 17,000 residents, more than 12,000 have gotten inoculated.
4. 29588 - Socastee and Forestbrook area
The 29588 ZIP code has around 61% of its residents vaccinated, falling below the “herd immunity” threshold of 70 to 80% vaccination rate that health experts are urging as a goal. This is the most populated ZIP code in the county, with more than 48,000 residents. Of those, more than 29,000 have been vaccinated, according to DHEC.
5. 29575 - Surfside Beach and Garden City area
On the southern end of Horry County, the 29575 ZIP code ranks fifth out of the county’s 16 ZIP codes with 59% of its residents vaccinated. More than 11,000 people in the area have gotten their doses of the vaccine.
6. 29579 - Carolina Forest area
In the growing Carolina Forest area of Horry County, around 58.5% of residents have gotten their COVID-19 vaccine, according to data from the state health department.
7. 29577 - Myrtle Beach area
Along with the ZIP code 29572, 29577 makes up the bulk of the Myrtle Beach city limits. The ZIP code 29577 ranks seventh in the county for vaccination rate with around 58.5% of its residents vaccinated. It falls just below the Carolina Forest area with a difference of less than .07%, data shows.
8. 29526 - Conway and Red Hill area
The 29526 ZIP code has just under 50% of its residents vaccinated, coming in at 49.5%. The area is one of the largest in the county, with more than 29,000 people vaccinated, data shows.
9. 29568 - Longs area
Near Longs, in the 29568 ZIP code, around 49% of the residents have been vaccinated, dipping below the 50% threshold. Nearly 8,000 of more than 16,000 residents in this area have been inoculated.
10. 29576 - Murrells Inlet and Garden City area
The southernmost ZIP code in Horry County ranks tenth in the county for vaccination rate. Around 47% of residents in this area have gotten their shot, with more than 15,000 of around 32,400 residents having gotten their shot, DHEC data shows.
11. 29569 - Loris area
Dipping below 40% of residents vaccinated, the Loris area in the 29569 ZIP code has around 38% of its 17,000 residents vaccinated.
12. 29527 - Conway, Bucksport and Bucksville area
The 29527 ZIP code has just over 35% of its residents vaccinated. The area has more than 26,000 residents, and fewer than 10,000 of them have gotten the shot.
13. 29544 - Galivants Ferry area
In the western part of the county, the 29544 ZIP code has just under 35% of its roughly 5,500 residents immunized against COVID-19.
14. 29511 - Aynor area
Around 33% of Aynor residents in the 29511 ZIP code have been vaccinated, data shows. The area has around 5,400 residents, and roughly 1,800 have gotten vaccinated.
15. 29545 - Green Sea area
The least populous ZIP code in Horry County ranks second-to-last in Horry County for its vaccination rate. The 29545 ZIP code in the Green Sea area has only around 32% of its residents inoculated, data shows. The area is still around 10 percentage points above the least-vaccinated area of Horry County, the 29581 ZIP code.
16. 29581 - Nichols and Ketchuptown area
The area of Horry County with the lowest vaccination rate is the 29581 ZIP code, with just under 23% of the population receiving a shot. The rate of vaccination in this ZIP code has hardly budged since The Sun News’ last analysis of ZIP code level vaccine data in April, changing less than a percent while other ZIP codes improved their rates by more than 10%.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 2:27 PM.
