8 vaccination sites coming to rural South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Eight mass COVID-19 vaccination sites will be open across rural South Carolina in the coming days.

U.S. House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn and officials with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control say the free sites in Hampton, Allendale and Bamberg counties will be open to anyone 18 years or older.

The sites will be in Clyburn’s district. The Democrat has been a proponent of rural vaccination clinics, saying communities in those areas have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

No appointment will be necessary, and second dose appointments will be scheduled. All the sites will be open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on the designated days.

Four sites in Hampton County will be open April 6, 8, 12 and 13. Two Allendale County sites will be open April 15 and 16, and two others in Bamberg County will operate April 19 and 20.

Officials say more than 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been distributed in South Carolina.