S.C. governor, DHEC chief warn of wrong lessons from COVID

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Gov. Henry McMaster warns that a bill now under state lawmakers’ consideration could cripple South Carolina’s ability to respond to future public health threats.

But ers of the so-called Medical Freedom Act claim these changes are needed to protect individual liberties during emergencies.

The bill would ban the state, schools, and even private employers from forcing workers and students to take novel vaccines.

McMaster said the legislation could “potentially place innocent lives at risk” in future public health emergencies.

Dr. Edward Simmer, who leads the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control – echoed those concerns in a hearing before lawmakers.

“There are a number of issues where we believe this bill would actually cause harm to the people of South Carolina and would in fact would cause unnecessary death amongst the people of South Carolina during a public health crisis,” he said.

Simmer ran through provision after provision that he says would severely inhibit the state’s ability to respond in public health emergencies.

Including by removing or reducing its authority to require people to quarantine or isolate … and to get law enforcement’s help to if they don’t abide.

But some conservative lawmakers argue local sheriffs shouldn’t be compelled to enforce these commands – if they don’t agree with them.

Lawmakers did amend an especially troubling part of the bill for DHEC – which would’ve prohibited the state health agency from acquiring and istering novel vaccines until they had full FDA approval.

Had that been in place during the pandemic, it would’ve delayed South Carolinians’ ability to get those shots – by months.

In addition to loosening restrictions on who can visit people in isolation, the measure would also require symptom-free patients to be released from quarantine well before some infectious diseases begin to show outward signs, Simmer said at a Thursday hearing.

The bill ed the Senate subcommittee on a 4-3 vote, but with eight weeks to go in the General Assembly’s session, it still has to get through the body’s Medical Affairs Committee and a vote on the Senate floor before it can even be sent to the House.

A similar subcommittee met in September, where many speakers sewed doubt about vaccine safety and efficacy, as well as distrust in the scientific establishment.

on Thursday listened to Simmer and took up some amendments on his concern and promised to discuss his other worries with the bill.

“You are making some good points, Dr. Simmer. I’m writing them all down,” Republican Sen. Richard Cash of Powdersville said.

However, Cash told Simmer that when the pandemic shutdown started, his wife had just endured a 17-hour cancer surgery and he was ordered to leave her bedside.

“Whatever she’s got, I got. But I still had to go,” Cash said.

Simmer said he had sympathy for decisions that had to be made quickly without much data, but he thought they were still wrong.

“We saw the pictures of people seeing nursing home patients through a window. They should have been allowed in,” Simmer said. “When that didn’t happen, that was a mistake. That was a lesson learned from COVID.”

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