Gov. Henry McMaster | Facebook
Gov. Henry McMaster | Facebook
Gov. Henry McMaster doesn't want state and local health care groups to adhere to the Biden administration's plan to go "door to door" in an effort to get more South Carolina residents to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a letter dated July 9, McMaster asked Mark Elam, chairman of the state Board of Health and Environmental Control, to ask the board to advise such groups against visiting residents at their homes.
"Today I am calling on DHEC to issue direction to agency leadership and to state and local healthcare organizations prohibiting the use of the Biden Administration's 'targeted' door to door tactics in the State's ongoing vaccination efforts,'" McMaster wrote in a July 9 tweet.
In the letter to Elam, McMaster said the decision for a state resident to get vaccinated is "personal" and "not the government's." He added that he believed doing so would have a negative impact on the public's "trust and confidence" in the state's vaccination plans.
According to WIS10 News, DHEC Director Dr. Edward Simmer told McMaster they haven't and won't make door to door visits a part of their work to get more people vaccinated.
South Carolina currently ranks 10th in the nation when it comes to total cases per 1 million in population, which is above the national average according to Worldometer.