PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - As South Dakota attempts to continue the fast pace of its COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, health officials on Wednesday described a multi-step process that at times created a scramble for drivers to deliver vaccine shipments in winter weather.
Health officials have not received reports of vaccines going to waste, as has happened elsewhere. Secretary of Health Kim Malsam-Rysdon credited the work of people who have jumped in to help. The cold storage requirements make delivery of the vaccines a “tricky process,” she said.
She described how a vaccine shipment arrived late into a FedEx distribution center on Friday. Drivers who had been scheduled to deliver the vaccines across the state were no longer available late Friday, so the company scrambled to find people willing to drive into the night. Despite bad weather, all the vaccine shipments arrived at hospitals by 12:15 a.m. Saturday, Malsam-Rysdon said.
The state has administered vaccines to over 52,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This week, health officials opened distribution to people who are over 79 years old or have certain medical conditions.
The number of new cases declined by 30% over the last two weeks. There were 277 new cases and no new deaths reported.
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