By Summer HuechtkerandRiley Bean|March 3, 2021 at 5:21 AM EST - Updated March 3 at 8:04 AM
WADMALAW ISLAND, S.C. (WCSC) - Fetter Health Care Network is holding a vaccine clinic on Wadmalaw Island and the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office is helping those who need transportation get a ride.
The sheriff’s office said they were partnering with Fetter because people’s access to the coronavirus vaccine has especially been overestimated in rural areas like Wadmalaw Island.
Starting Wednesday, Wadmalaw Island residents can call the CCSO and arrange a pickup time. Residents will have to give their name, address, and phone number.
The CCSO says their service can be reached by calling 843-259-3719.
Residents will be picked up by a bus driven by a CCSO employee and that bus will wait for the residents to get their vaccine before returning them to their homes.
The CCSO says all residents will be required to wear a mask on the bus and they will be spaced out as much as possible.
Charleston County Sheriff Kristin Graziano says they are only providing transportation for rural areas, but if there’s a need for more in other places around the county, they will arrange that.
“I’ve always said, let’s meet people where they are,” Graziano said. “If we can go to them and accommodate them, and be where they are, so they’re getting service, then we’re not leaving them out. This was just an easy thing for us to do, it was a relatively easy decision to make.”
Graziano says they plan to expand this transportation system to all vaccine clinics in rural areas of the county. She says they already plan to offer the bus at a vaccination site on Edisto in April and are working with Fetter to set up more rural vaccination sites.
Fetter says Wednesday’s vaccination event is at New Bethlehem Baptist Church on Wadmalaw and runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The healthcare network says they advise people to not come earlier than this time slot. They say people who arrive by 2 p.m. will receive a vaccine.
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