SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — South Dakota will soon change how it obtains COVID-19 vaccine doses as vaccine supply continues to grow to meet demand.
The state will shift from receiving regular weekly allotments from the federal government to an “on-demand” system where vaccine providers order what they expect they’ll need based on demand from the public.
“That works well for them; that’s how vaccines are ordered most commonly,” South Dakota Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon said.
54% of South Dakotans 16 and older have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine and 45% are fully vaccinated, according to the latest numbers released Thursday by the state department of health.
Malsam-Rysdon continued to encourage South Dakotans to get vaccinated.
“Sometimes people just need to hear the information a couple of different times to make that choice for themselves,” Malsam-Rysdon said. “I do think at the end of the day South Dakotans do make the right choices for themselves and their families, and I’m optimistic that we’ll continue to see people choosing to be vaccinated.”
(Jerry Oster, WNAX, contributed to this report.)
