Skip to main content

Updates from the SC DHEC Immunization Center

SIMON: DHEC is excited to announce that South Carolina's new Immunization Information System, SIMON, will replace the current SCI Registry in spring/summer 2020.  New features will include online VFC provider enrollment, inventory tracking and vaccine ordering, an accurate vaccine forecaster and reporting features not currently available in SCI Registry.  More information will be forthcoming, including a SIMON website, training and onboarding information.  For further questions, email SIMON@dhec.sc.gov

Hepatitis A outbreak: DHEC declared a statewide hepatitis A outbreak May 13, 2019.  This outbreak coincides with a national hepatitis A outbreak that began in 2016.  As of July 19, 2019, there have been 225 reported cases in South Carolina.  For more information, visit www.scdhec.gov/hepa.   The outbreak is primarily affecting high-risk groups including drug users, homeless individuals, men who have sex with men and incarcerated individuals.  DHEC is encouraging providers to vaccinate high risk adolescents and adults.  Adults can obtain hepatitis A vaccine at their health care provider, local pharmacy or health department.  DHEC health departments are providing free hepatitis A vaccine to adults who meet one of the high-risk criteria.  For appointments, call 1-855-472-3432.

A Hepatitis A vaccine requirement is being added for 2020-2021 school year.  The requirement will start for school (5K) and childcare (children born on or after January 1, 2019).  For more information, see the 2019-2020 South Carolina Immunization Requirements.  CDC recommends providing hepatitis A vaccine as catch up to children and adolescents who were not vaccinated as infants.  South Carolina VFC and state program hepatitis A vaccine can be used to catch up older children through age 18.  

Back to School: Fall is always a busy time as kids need vaccines before school starts.  DHEC has some new English and Spanish resources to help you and parents be ready for school.  Please visit our updated Childcare and School Vaccine Requirements webpage and view our Back to School toolkit link at the bottom of the page.   DHEC back-to-school and other resources can either be printed or ordered for free via the DHEC Educational Materials Library. You will have to create a free account, and then Browse Library, Program “Immunizations” to view materials and order.

August was National Immunization Awareness Month.  Check out CDC's brand new 2019 toolkit for resources to help promote vaccines to your patients!   

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Lowcountry AHEC Helps School Nurse Orientation Pivot Online during Pandemic

For many years, orientation for school nurses in South Carolina has been an in-person event; however, due to COVID-19, this orientation, like so many other in-person events, was cancelled this past year. Yet the need to orient South Carolina's school nurses remains critical. Recognizing this need, a team consisting of Lowcountry AHEC staff, South Carolina Association of School Nurse President Dawn MacAdams and South Carolina Department of Education State School Nurse Consultant Vicky Ladd developed a plan to deliver the orientation as an online, self-paced course. The instructors supported the format change, working to convert their in-person sessions to online content, and Lowcountry AHEC will provide nursing credit for the series over the next two years. The orientation went live in the fall of 2020 and is available at no cost to South Carolina school nurses on the new and improved South Carolina AHEC Learning Portal. To find out more and register, visit the Foundations of School

SC AHEC Excellence Awards: Gateway Award

The South Carolina AHEC Gateway Award recognizes individuals who are committed to furthering the development of future health professionals and are distinguished in their service to students in the health careers pipeline. This year’s Gateway Award recipient is Angelica Ellman Christie, Ed.D.  Dr. Christie is currently the vice president of academic affairs at Denmark Technical College. Previously, she served in the South Carolina AHEC system for numerous years: She started her career in 1998 as the Health Careers Program (HCP) coordinator for Greenville AHEC and advanced as the HCP director in the South Carolina AHEC program office in 2000. In the fall of 2018, Dr. Christie left South Carolina AHEC for her position at Denmark Tech. Throughout her career, Dr. Christie exhibited her passionate dedication to advancing the mission of South Carolina AHEC. She enthusiastically went above and beyond to research, develop, and successfully undertake new projects and programming to streng

South Carolina AHEC Welcomes Katie Gaul as New Office for Healthcare Workforce Director and Recognizes Linda Lacey's 10 Years of Service to the State

Katie Gaul The South Carolina AHEC Program welcomes Katie Gaul as the new director of the South   Carolina Office for Healthcare Workforce and bids a fond farewell to Linda Lacey, who will be retiring at the end of the year.  Linda joined South Carolina AHEC in 2009 as the founding director of the South Carolina Office for Healthcare Workforce (SCOHW), which received startup funding from The Duke Endowment. SCOHW works closely with other state agencies and health-related organizations to ensure they have the information they need about the healthcare workforce in South Carolina and the issues affecting the future of that workforce. During her tenure, Linda established the South Carolina Health Professions Data Book – a widely used resource that describes the available healthcare workforce, population, health status and social/economic conditions in each county in the state. Updated every two years, the data book was recognized as a ‘best state document’ in 2013 by the South