YORK COUNTY, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) Now, 30 locations around the Tri-County are authorized to administer the COVID-19 vaccine, but of those only about half have the vaccine available.
State leaders say more doses are on the way. They say that 10,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are set to arrive in South Carolina — more than half of those will be right here in York County.
State Senator, Michael Johnson saying, “For the last few weeks, South Carolina has actually gotten less than we were supposed to, and now we’re back on track to get an extra 10,000 doses starting next week. Which is going to result in about 3,072 doses in York County for the first and then an additional 3,072 for the second. So, we literally should be putting about 6-thousand shots in arms, starting next week.”
Leaders say the biggest goal now is getting shots in the arms of people who want them. And just one week after Rock Hill’s mass vaccination clinic opening, leaders are saying they’ve been able to vaccinate more than 2,300 people so far, and hope to do more.
Deputy City Manager for the City of Rock Hill, Jimmy Bagley, says, “We weren’t sure if we’d have enough injectors to do the inoculations, but people are really stepping up saying they’ll help out and participate. I think we have the people to do it, we just need the vaccines — and if we could get an additional allocation, I’d like to do 1,000 a day. So if we could get an additional allocation, I think that’s be great — if we need to expand from Tuesday to Friday, maybe go to a Monday or Saturday — then we’ll consider that too.”
In addition to Rock Hill’s clinic, Publix and Walgreens pharmacies each say appointments for the vaccine are only available online at this time.
A Publix spokesperson shared, that state officials determine the amount of vaccine doses and store locations that get them. They’re working with them to get more vaccines to open more appointments.
A Walgreens spokesperson saying that appointment availability depends on the vaccine supply allocated to each store. The best way to make an appointment is through an updated vaccination scheduler that allows patients to schedule both vaccination appointments at the same time.
In the video above, CN2’s Rachel Richardson is speaking with providers along with city and state leaders about COVID-19 vaccine availability in our area.
