South Carolina Next Vaccination Phase Starts On March 8th

Governor Henry McMaster, DHEC Director Dr. Edward Simmer, and State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman announced Tuesday that South Carolina will advance to Phase 1b of the state’s COVID-19 vaccination plan beginning Monday, March 8.

Phase 1B

Starting on March 8, the following individuals will be eligible to make an appointment to receive the vaccine:

• Anyone aged 55+
• People with increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease
  • People aged 16-64 with one or more of the following high-risk medical conditions:
    • Cancer (current, not a history of cancer), chronic kidney disease (any stage), chronic lung disease, diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2), Down syndrome, heart disease (congestive heart disease, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, pulmonary hypertension), HIV/AIDS, solid organ transplant, obesity (BMI>30), pregnancy, sickle cell disease
  • People who have a developmental or other severe high-risk disability that makes developing severe life-threatening illness or death from COVID-19 infection more likely
• Frontline workers with increased occupational risk
  • Must be in-person at their place of work, and
  • Perform a job that puts them at increased risk of exposure due to their frequent, close (less than 6 feet) and ongoing (more than 15 minutes) contact with others in the work environment
    • (Examples of frontline workers include, but are not limited to, school staff and daycare workers, manufacturing workers, grocery store workers, law enforcement officers, etc.)
• Individuals at increased risk in settings where people are living and working in close contact
  • Residents and workers in group home settings for the mentally or physically disabled or those with behavioral or substance abuse conditions
  • Workers and residents in homeless shelters
  • Workers and residents in community training homes
  • State and local correctional facility staff with direct inmate contact
  • Correctional and immigration detention facility inmates
  • Migrant farmworkers living in shared housing or reliant on shared transportation
• All workers in healthcare and community health settings who have routine, direct patient contact and were not vaccinated in Phase 1A

Phase 1C

Phase 1C will begin on approximately April 12 and will include the following:

• People aged 45+
• Essential workers
  • This group includes those who work in essential job categories as defined by the Center for Disease Prevention and Control who are not included in Phase 1B because they do not have frequent, close contact with others in the work environment (examples may include construction workers, delivery drivers, utility workers, etc. who do not have frequent, close and ongoing contact with others).

Phase 2

Phase 2 is expected to begin on approximately May 3. Phase 2 will include:

• All South Carolinians aged 16 and above

Click here to make an appointment online. You can also get assistance from DHEC’s COVID-19 Vaccine Information Line at 1-866-365-8110.

To learn more about the state’s vaccine distribution plan visit scdhec.gov/covid19.