Anyone in SC Over 70 Can Schedule COVID-19 Vaccination Starting Wednesday

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and the state's Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) announced that starting Wednesday, any resident 70 or older can begin scheduling their appointment to receive COVID-19 vaccine regardless of health status or preexisting conditions, reports WLTX . "We know that those 70 and older are at the greatest risk of dying from COVID-19," McMaster said. "Making sure they have expedited access to the vaccine will help save lives." State officials are quite confident that most people in phase 1a of the state rollout plan who wish to be vaccinated have either received their shots or have scheduled appointments for inoculations. Phase 1a includes frontline workers in hospitals and emergency services, hospitalized patients 65 and older who have not tested positive for the virus, and long-term care community residents and staff. There are presently 146,500 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in South Carolina, with 82,266 shots already administered, and 94,926 appointments scheduled by Phase 1a individuals to be immunized over the next several weeks. Additional steps to speed up access to South Carolinians will be followed based on the use of the vaccine, the number of appointments made, and supply data. DHEC's Brannon Traxler said current data estimates the COVID-19 mortality rate for residents 70 and older at roughly 655 deaths per 100,000 individuals, while about 37 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 individuals occur among those younger than 70.