How many kids are vaccinated in Horry County? ‘Some’s better than none,’ doctor says
Just over 20% of Horry County’s kids have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as impending holiday gatherings present a potential threat of a new wave of infections.
At 10,324 kids receiving at least one dose of their vaccine, 22.1% of people under the age of 18 in Horry County have started their vaccination series nearly a month after eligibility opened up to kids as young as five years old, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
But is it enough?
“Some’s better than none,” said Dr. Paul Richardson, chief medical officer at Conway Medical Center.
Across South Carolina, around 23.6% of people under the age of 18 have gotten at least one shot, according to DHEC, putting Horry County slightly below the state average.
Vaccine eligibility opened to kids and teens in phases. First, teens aged 16 and 17 years old were able to get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Then federal authorization was given to vaccinate kids 12 and older. Most recently, kids ages 5-11 have been able to roll up their sleeves. That means not all 10,000-plus kids and teens in Horry County were vaccinated in the last month.
As the pandemic presses on, doctors urge vaccination. While the initial push was to inoculate seniors and people who were immunocompromised, local doctors stress that doesn’t mean healthy kids shouldn’t get the shot.
“They have youth on their side, we rarely see a sick child, which is a good thing,” said Dr. Harmon, vice president of medical affairs at Tidelands Health and president of the American Medical Association. “There are certain numbers of children who get seriously ill, unfortunately, with coronavirus and it can cause lifetime concern.”
Holiday gatherings and schools with lax or nonexistent COVID restrictions could give parents anxiety about their kids getting infected, but doctors say that makes vaccination all the more important.
“The two drivers in my opinion are to cut back the potential for them to inadvertently be spreaders,” Richardson said. “If I had kids in public school, I’d want in-person instruction. If vaccination helps cut back on quarantines and keep them in school, then by all means, that, to me, is a motivating factor.”
The pediatric vaccination rate in Horry County and across the state shows room for improvement. Nearly 60% of Horry adults have received at least one dose, while almost 97% of seniors in the county have been immunized through vaccination, according to DHEC.
The vaccine uptake among younger age groups has long been a point of focus for health leaders in the area, as younger populations weren’t as likely to see severe infections and have generally been more apathetic toward getting the shot. But as South Carolina as a whole has just cracked a 57% vaccination rate, Harmon encouraged anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated to consider it.
“We have a lot more we could do,” he said. “Get vaccinated please.”
