COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

South Carolina Board of Health and Environmental Control

March 11, 2021

 Agenda

• Response Status/Progress
Update
• Keith Frost, Incident Commander
• Vaccination Efforts/Allocation
• Nick Davidson, Senior Deputy for
Public Health
• Questions
 A year later…

• Received more than 6 million test results, including:

• results from over 2.6 million distinct individuals or 50.7%
of the state's population
• Held more than 35,700 testing events since May 2020
• Delivered 14,890 doses of Remdesivir to hospitalized
patients
• Trained 378 EMS personnel and 30 National Guard
medical personnel to provide COVID-19 testing
 A year later (cont’)…

• Given nearly 1.3 million COVID-19 vaccine shots:

• Given the 1st of 2 doses to 794,305 individuals
• Fully vaccinated 450,343 South Carolinians against the virus
• Answered more than 351,000 calls to the CareLine and
DHEC’s new Vaccine Information Line
• To support these efforts 2,920 DHEC staff have worked
1,534,289 hours so far as part of the response
 Vaccination Demographics and Rural
Outreach
• Ensuring vaccines are provided in
rural counties. In February alone:
• 133 of 211 DHEC clinic events were held
in predominantly rural counties
• 20,059 of 30,677 vaccines given by DHEC
are in predominantly rural counties
• Leveraging community, faith-
based, other local partnerships
• Conducting speaking engagements
and targeted outreach
 A People First Approach
Working Together to Save Lives

• Strengthening the flow of vaccine into all corners of the

state
• Identifying community champions to foster trust and
buy-in for vaccination at the local level
• Educating people on the importance of getting vaccinated
• Ensuring easy, equitable access to vaccines by making
the process as simple as possible
 A People First Approach
Working Together to Save Lives

• Providers “activated” to receive vaccine:

• 88 hospitals
• 50 health centers
• 477 pharmacy locations
• 139 independent pharmacies
• 123 FQHC locations
• 300+ medical practices (coming next)
• TOTAL will soon exceed 1100 locations
A People First Approach
Working Together to Save Lives

1,012 locations as
of March 8, 2021
 Current Allocation Process

• DHEC team assesses multiple variables:

• Vaccine supply
• Provider request
• Utilization rate
 New Allocation Process
• Per capita allocation by region (based on 4 DHEC regions)
• As per legislation:
• Percent of population over 55 years old
• Percent of minority population
• Diabetes and hypertension prevalence
• Percent below poverty rate
• 2-week COVID-19 incidence rate
• Percent of population still unvaccinated

• Baseline/consistent amount per facility for 1st doses

• 2nd doses based on what the facility was sent three (for
Pfizer) or four (for Moderna) weeks ago as 1st doses
 New Regional Allocations

% of % of Vaccine
Population Allocation Allocation
Lowcountry 23.4 % 27.1 % 29,733
Midlands 29.0 % 29.0 % 31,817
Pee Dee 18.3 % 19.6 % 21,504
Upstate 29.3 % 24.3 % 26,661

Notes:
No greater than a 5% reserve (for use for redistribution to large events,
problem resolution, etc.)
Numbers based on a weekly allocation of 115,490 doses (Pfizer + Moderna):
delivery week of 3/15
 Facility Baseline Shipments
• Starting next week, hospitals will begin to receive a base amount
each week (i.e. a “baseline”), with future weeks not to be less than
the week prior

• Baselines are based on the approximate averages of the last two

weeks’ deliveries (delivery weeks 3/1 and 3/8)
• Slight adjustments based on minimum shipping deliveries, etc.

• Working to also establish baselines for facilities receiving

Moderna
• Complications include smaller shipments and higher variability in
shipment amounts
 Establishing Regional CARE Panels

• To better receive recommendations from community

stakeholders and vaccine providers, DHEC is
establishing COVID-19 Community Assessment
Review and Equity Panels (CARE Panels)
• CARE Panels will:
• Be in each of DHEC’s 4 public health regions across our
state
• Include members from both vaccine providers and non-
provider community groups
 Purpose of the CARE Panels

• To identify gaps in vaccine allocation and

utilization and to make recommendations as to
where resources may best be deployed to fill those
gaps
• To offer recommendations on how to best engage
underserved communities
• To assist in connecting community groups and
leaders with enrolled and activated vaccine providers