McMaster sets Jan. 15 deadline for SC health worker COVID vaccine shots

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Frustrated with what he said is a slow rollout in South Carolina of COVID-19 vaccines, Gov. Henry McMaster said Tuesday that hospital and health workers have until Jan. 15 to get a shot or they will have to “move to the back of the line.”

McMaster said he has asked health officials to speak to hospitals and then revise the rules.

Current state rules say 70% of eligible health care workers and nursing home residents need to be vaccinated. When that has been accomplished, the state will start vaccinating people over age 75 and frontline workers such as police officers, prison guards, grocery store workers, teachers and postal employees.

McMaster wants to establish the deadline instead.

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“If we need to move the next group up early, we’re going to do it,” McMaster said at a news conference.

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental control did not immediately comment on the governor’s idea, but McMaster said health officials were meeting and planned to send out the new rules later Tuesday.

The pace of vaccinations has angered both the governor and lawmakers.

State Sen. Nikki Seltzler, a Democrat from West Columbia, issued a scathing statement saying that after waiting patiently for 10 months to see a vaccine developed, South Carolinians now need prompt access to it.

“We need decisive action in order to save lives,” Setzler said in a statement.

As of Monday, the state had given out less than half its initial allotment of the Pfizer vaccine to about 43,000 people. Statistics on the Moderna vaccine have not been released.

McMaster said he puts much of the blame on hospitals for the slow rollout because they have been too strict -- only giving shots to workers who deal directly with COVID-19 patients instead of to any heath care provider. The governor said hospital leaders have promised to do better.

Adding angst to the slow vaccine rollout is a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases. This past week, South Carolina has set state records for new cases. It is seeing more than 3,600 new cases a day when averaged out over seven days, nearly double the new cases from the summer, when the state nearly led the nation. The state topped 5,000 COVID-19 deaths at the beginning of the month.

On Monday, the rate of positive tests was 33.3% -- the highest recorded since the outbreak began. Health officials want to get that number below 5%.

McMaster spent several minutes in his news conference insisting he would not order any businesses to close or add any restrictions, even with the high case numbers.

But he did let health officials know that if they did not intervene and change the vaccine rules, he would use his emergency powers.

“If there is something else that needs to be done, I’ll do it,” the governor said. “I can’t change the law, but I’ll change a rule.”

After rebuke, South Carolina’s McMaster changes COVID money plan

After being rebuked in court for trying to spend his share of federal COVID-19 money on private school tuition grants, South Carolina’s governor wants to spend the money on early childhood education, job training and tutors for foster children instead.

Gov. Henry McMaster announced Tuesday how he will spend about $20 million of the $48 million set aside for him to spend at his own discretion. The governor has a May deadline to decide how to spend the rest of the grant money.

McMaster’s initial plan announced in July was to spend most of the money on grants of up to $6,500 to help parents send children to private or religious schools which were providing in-school instruction when most schools across the state were still having virtual classes at least part of the time.

The state Supreme Court ruled in October that McMaster’s plans broke the state constitution by sending public money to private schools. The decision also put on hold $2.4 million set aside by the governor for technology improvements to historically Black universities and colleges. McMaster has not announced if he will restore that money.

Supporters of McMaster’s plans said more than 15,000 families expressed interest in grants. Opponents said the governor was using the pandemic to push school vouchers which the Legislature has been unable to get full support for in more than a decade of debate.

The governor’s new plan announced Tuesday sets aside $8 million for South Carolina technical colleges to allow 3,100 people who lost jobs in the pandemic to take classes for free for jobs in health care like certified nursing assistants or in manufacturing, criminal justice or computers.

McMaster also will spend $7 million to expand full-day pre-kindergarten for 4-year-olds. The program is free for families whose children are on Medicaid or make just under double the federal poverty level.

South Carolina’s 4K program uses both private educators and public schools. McMaster said he will send $5 million to First Steps, which works with private programs, and $2 million to public schools through the state Department of Education. The governor said if public schools show more interest, he will give them more money.

McMaster’s plan also gives $4.9 million to the South Carolina Department of Social Services to improve education in 74 group homes and for about 600 children living with foster families.

Most of the money will go to tutoring, although about $300,000 is set aside to provide better internet connections for group homes and give those children computer tablets and other devices.

Tuesday’s news conference to announce his plans was McMaster’s first public appearance since announcing Dec. 22 he contracted COVID-19. McMaster’s office said he initially had “mild symptoms with a cough and slight fatigue” before recovering without any additional problems.

McMaster’s wife tested positive before her husband and was asymptomatic, officials said.

McMaster wants SC students in classroom full-time despite rise in virus cases

Cox Media Group