Hurricane Helene: Public Health Department Closures

Latest updates: Hurricane Helene

Our public health departments' hours of operation may be affected by power and staffing outages. This means that some closures may not appear on the state government office delays and closings map. The health and safety of our employees and our clients remains our highest priority. We are working to get services restored as safely and quickly as possible.

Learn more about DPH's role with hurricanes, floods, and weather emergencies.

 

PROTECT. PLAN. ACT.

 

PROTECT

It remains important to continue to follow the basic CDC COVID-19 guidance including: wearing masks, staying six feet away from others, getting tested and staying home when you’re sick, and avoiding crowds.

Happy Toddler

PLAN

Vaccine

If you have a provider, reach out to them and find out your status. Vaccine is becoming more broadly available. If you do not have a provider, please complete the brief survey and press “submit”.  DPH will follow-up, matching you with a provider.

Additional Preparation

As we continue to work with providers and other partners to expand our vaccine pipeline, we recognize that this is something that we can’t do alone. We need the help of our business community and government leaders to:

  • Educate your workforce on the safety (confidence building) and need for the vaccine. As part of this effort:
    • consider offering incentives; and
    • set percent goals for your team, similar to flu shots.

ACT

Providing the Vaccine

There are three ways you can offer the vaccine to your employees:

  1. Become a vaccine provider. If you have onsite medical staff and can meet the storage and other requirements, you can apply to be a vaccine provider for your employees; 
  2. Work with a local, approved, vaccine provider. Go to this map of approved providers in your area; or
  3. Encourage employees to schedule their own vaccine appointment at a local provider and consider providing time off or other incentives. If you choose this option, please work with your local provider and follow their instructions with regard to tracking your employee vaccinations.

If you have questions or need additional assistance after reading through this information, please email: businessvaccineinfo@dhec.sc.gov. Thank you for your active engagement.

Additional Resources