ATLANTA - The coronavirus vaccines have been rolled out unevenly across the U.S., but Georgia and South Carolina have had particularly low inoculation rates, along with some neighbors in the South.
More than 329,000 people in Georgia have gotten their first shots. In South Carolina, the total is about 137,000.
As big as those numbers sound, that’s still less than 3% of the population.
Joining Georgia and South Carolina with low rates are Alabama and Mississippi, according to data from the states and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The best states have managed to inject more than 5% of their populations.
Though it’s not clear why the Deep South is falling behind, public health researchers note that it has typically lagged in funding public health systems and addressing disparities in care for its large rural population.
In the CSRA ...
In Georgia, two local hospitals are working on the problem.
Augusta University Health has gotten approval to vaccinate the public and is finalizing registration plans in coordination with the amount of supplies available.
Also working on its public vaccination plan is University Hospital.
The hospitals are interested in starting COVID-19 vaccination clinics in Aiken County, a local representative says.
Doctors Hospital officials say they are not pursuing being a public vaccination spot.
Across the river, the National Guard has volunteered to help Aiken Regional Medical Center as it struggles with their rollout.
Meanwhile the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control is hiring more people to administer vaccines and is adding more medical professionals to the list of people who can give shots.
DHEC is looking to hire 150 people to work in vaccine clinics, including nurses, pharmacists, paramedics and administrative support, among others.
And a temporary rule change by the agency will allow medical students, retired nurses and other qualified professionals to administer the COVID-19 vaccine.
Also in the news …
- Women are more likely than men to get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a CNN analysis of a dozen states’ vaccine demographic information. In Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Nebraska, women account for more than seven in 10 vaccinations. But experts say that data may be a reflection of eligibility because health care workers and seniors are being vaccinated first.
- Federal health officials are shedding new light on the toll of the pandemic — the toll from drug overdoses. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates as many as 90,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2020. Early data shows that is a 21% increase and they expect that number to grow. In addition to feelings of depression and isolation blamed on the pandemic, they believe new synthetic opioids are also leading to more overdoses.
- Top officials overseeing child welfare at the Department of Health and Human Services say they’ve seen no solid evidence to bear out warnings that serious forms of child abuse would surge during the coronavirus pandemic. Official 50-state data for 2020 won’t be available for several more months, but anecdotal reports of calls to hotlines reporting suspected abuse are down compared to 2019, while calls to support centers from hard-up families seeking assistance have increased.
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What's being done to fix low vaccination rates in Georgia, South Carolina? - WRDW
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