Columbus Health Dept. pauses vaccine appointments as pandemic rages
By DEUCE NIVEN
tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com
Appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations have filled rapidly in Columbus County as the pandemic continues to kill and sicken residents locally and nationally.
This post will cover these topics and may be updated:
- Columbus Health Dept. pauses vaccine appointments
- State data shows three new CC COVID deaths, 113 more cases
- Virus claims another in Horry, nearly 200 new cases
Columbus Health Dept. pauses vaccine appointments
Appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations have been paused at the Columbus County Health Department, and are scheduled to resume Feb. 1, an agency news release said.
“We are currently booked for the next three weeks,” the news release said.
Appointments for the county’s oldest residents, those 75 years and older, were taken beginning this week, with those vaccinations scheduled to begin on Monday as the county began Phase 1b of the state’s COVID-19 vaccination plan, beginning with those older residents as defined in Group B.
“While everyone that wants a vaccine will be able to get a vaccine, it will take time to vaccinate everyone,” the news release said. “We are scheduling to administer as many vaccines as we will be receiving in our allotment each week.
It is our goal to serve the residents of Columbus County as effectively as possible and ensure that everyone that wants a vaccine gets a vaccine.”
Updates will be posted on the agency’s website, here, and Facebook page, here.
State data shows three new CC COVID deaths, 113 more cases
Three more COVID-19 associated deaths of Columbus County residents are reflected in Friday’s update from the NC Department of Health and Human Services, with another 113 citizens confirmed as infected with the coronavirus.
Columbus County Health Director Kim Smith on Thursday had reported the new deaths, bringing the loss of life from the virus in the county to 90. DHHS data showed those new deaths involved residents of the Whiteville, Chadbourn and Clarendon Zip Codes.
Another 113 county residents have been confirmed as positive for the virus, the DHHS data showed, including 34 from the Whiteville Zip Code, 20 from Tabor City, and 10 from Chadbourn. No Zip Code in the county was spared from new infections, the rest in single digits, Delco and Riegelwood with the fewest at two each.
Pandemic case/death totals for some of Columbus, the DHHS showed Friday, includes the county with 4,136/90; Whiteville, 1,239;30; Tabor City, 1,165/23; Chadbourn, 464/10; Clarendon, 160/3; Nakina, 113/2; Cerro Gordo, 115/2; and Fair Bluff, 92/5.
North Carolina reported 10,028 new COVID infections Friday and 115 associated deaths, bringing those pandemic totals to 602,774 and 7,328 respectively.
Statewide 3,960 people were hospitalized due to the coronavirus Friday, that number unchanged from Thursday.
Virus claims another in Horry, nearly 200 new cases
An elderly Horry County resident who died Jan. 4 was Horry County’s 182nd COVID-19 associated casualty of the pandemic, South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control reported Friday.
DHEC data has shown at least one coronavirus death of an Horry resident every day since Monday, the pandemic toll rising steadily with another 197 citizens testing positive for the disease, Friday’s DHEC data showed.
Those newly confirmed cases included 16 reported in the Loris Zip Code, 5 more for Green Sea. Since the pandemic began last winter confirmed COVID cases have totaled 19,734 for Horry County, that total likely to cross 20,000 this weekend, with 1,219 cases reported in the Loris Zip Code, 160 for Green Sea.
South Carolina has recorded 315,353 COVID cases during the pandemic, 5,217 deaths, those numbers up by 5,217 and 28 respectively since Thursday.
Statewide 1,046 people were hospitalized due to the coronavirus Friday, that number more than half the 2,425 reported Thursday. There was no immediate explanation for that number on Friday.
Updates
Look for continuing coverage on local impacts from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak here and in the Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.
