SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota health officials reported an additional 33 deaths related to COVID-19 on Friday and 945 new cases, bringing the death toll to 1,210.
The total number of positive cases in South Dakota is now at 89,672, according to state data. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 were down 24 on Friday, to 467. That marks the lowest number of hospitalizations since early November, when the state began seeing a surge.
Of those hospitalized, 91 patients were receiving intensive care, with 55 on ventilators.
Health experts say that while vaccines are expected to be distributed soon, it will be challenging to make them widely available in South Dakota, due to the state’s rural nature, the difficulty in storing the shots at extremely cold temperatures, and concerns that some people may be reluctant to be inoculated, the Argus Leader reported.
The cold storage requirement may be a big hurdle, experts said. Dana Darger, director of pharmacy for Monument Health Rapid City Hospital, said few hospitals in South Dakota have freezers that can store a vaccine made by Pfizer, which must be kept at roughly minus-158 degrees Fahrenheit. That vaccine and one by Moderna also have short shelf lives.
“It’s only good for five days in a refrigerator. And it’s only good for six hours after you take it out of the refrigerator,” Darger said. “There are five doses in a vial, so we’re trying to figure out how we get vials where we need them and that we can use them in a reasonable amount of time to optimize those five doses. It’s not undoable, but it does present some challenges.”
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines also require two doses. That could be challenging for rural residents, who will have to travel significant distances to get inoculated.
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