Information you need to know about scheduling a COVID-19 vaccine appointment for those aged 70 and older

Starting Wednesday, Jan. 13, anyone aged 70 or older can schedule an appointment to receive his or her COVID-19 vaccine in South Carolina.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control provided the following information on how to schedule an appointment and more that you need to know:

• Beginning Wednesday, Jan. 13, those 70 and older can begin to schedule appointments to receive COVID-19 vaccinations at locations currently accepting vaccine appointments.
• DHEC’s online map will be live on Wednesday, Jan. 13. This online map will show the locations currently accepting appointments for COVID-19 vaccine, and the map will provide the contact information for scheduling appointments at those locations. The map itself is not a way to schedule an appointment.
• Beginning Jan. 13, individuals can also call DHEC’s Care Line at 1-855-472-3432 for assistance in locating the contact information for scheduling an appointment. The Care Line can’t schedule an appointment but can help provide the phone numbers of locations offering vaccine appointments.
• Appointments should be scheduled; walk-ins may not be available.
• You will be asked to provide a driver’s license or other form of ID at your appointment that confirms your age in order to receive vaccine.
• South Carolina residency is not a requirement to receive a vaccine.
• The appointment scheduling phone line for each location may operate different hours of the day. This isn’t determined by DHEC.
• South Carolina, like all states, currently has limited supply of the COVID-19 vaccine. Some locations that offer the vaccine may not have an appointment available for several weeks, depending on their vaccine supply. Facilities receive doses each week from the federal government.
• Individuals are encouraged to schedule their second shot as soon as they can. It’s important that individuals receive both doses of the same brand of vaccine to ensure they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Those eligible to receive the Pfizer vaccine via the state now include anyone aged 70 or older, hospital patients who do not have COVID-19 and are aged 65 or older and frontline hospital and health care workers. Residents and staff of long-term care facilities enrolled in the federal LTCF program are eligible to receive the Moderna vaccine, which is being administered at facilities by CVS and Walgreens pharmacists.

For the latest COVID-19 vaccine information, visit www.scdhec.gov/vaxfacts.

DHEC online vaccine appointment map: https://sc-dhec.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=58f5a4c3bc864fd0a81f5d9fb3bc17a7

Prisma Health's vaccine request form: https://prismahealth.org/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/vaccine-request-form

To find The Sumter Item’s COVID-19 coverage online in a consolidated webpage, visit www.theitem.com/coronavirus.

For more background on the state opening the vaccine to those aged 70 or older, read this article: https://www.theitem.com/stories/covid-19-vaccine-soon-open-to-all-in-sc-aged-70-and-over,357354