SC lawmakers advance $208 million for vaccine rollout

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The lawmakers who write South Carolina’s budget voted Monday to advance a $208 million coronavirus pandemic relief bill to speed up COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

The House Ways and Means Committee voted unanimously to move the legislation, which would give the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control $63 million to continue combatting the pandemic. The Medical University of South Carolina would receive $45 million, and another $100 million would be placed in a reserve account to help hospitals and other vaccine providers offset costs.

The money, drawn from state surplus dollars, would help cover the costs of testing and vaccinations, personal protective equipment and other expenses.

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“In our opinion, no money should be spared when it comes to the lives and economic lives of our citizens,” said Rep. Bill Herbkersman, chair of the Ways and Means health care subcommittee, last week.

The relief bill follows a rocky start to the vaccine rollout. In early weeks, the state’s low inoculation and vaccine utilization rates drew criticism from lawmakers. After the health department opened up vaccine access to people aged 70 and older, demand quickly outpaced supply, with some hospitals canceling appointments after tens of thousands of people signed up, leading many seniors to express frustration and confusion with the appointment process.

[Here’s everything you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine in North Carolina]

State legislators drilled down last week on details of the state’s vaccine plan, questioning state health officials, hospital executives and others involved in the rollout. Health officials have said the state only gets about 63,000 first doses weekly, the primary limiting factor to getting shots in arms faster. Officials say they do not expect to see more doses than that any time soon.

The agency says it will have a new call center to address vaccine questions up and running this week after its existing hotline was swamped with thousands of calls earlier this month. DHEC is also creating a centralized statewide platform people can use to schedule vaccine appointments.

Gov. Henry McMaster, who has spent the past week touring vaccine sites across the state, said hospitals have also significantly ramped up vaccine distribution after officials cleared up misunderstandings about whether to reserve first doses as second doses.

McMaster has urged hospitals, the state’s main vaccine administrators so far, to use up all their doses before the next week’s shipment arrives. Previously, some hospitals had been hanging onto doses because of uncertainty about future shipments.

The Department of Health and Environmental Control said Friday that all the doses the state has received have now been used or earmarked for future appointments.