Prom and graduation season is here. SC experts worry a teen COVID surge could follow.

After a year of nearly nonexistent high school traditions, prom and graduation ceremonies are returning to South Carolina. But public health experts are sounding the alarm about possible COVID-19 cases following these events as young people aren’t getting vaccinated as quickly as other age groups.

In Horry County, 15.4% of people ages 16-25 have gotten vaccinated while more than 50% of some older age groups have gotten their shot. Across South Carolina, around 16% of people ages 16-25 have gotten at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

“We have concerns that prom and graduation events are going to be super-spreader events, prom is definitely a concern,” said Dr. Jane Kelly, South Carolina’s assistant state epidemiologist.

COVID-19 cases among young people have been a concern in recent months, in part due to the lower vaccination rate. The age group of people hospitalized with the coronavirus has also shifted as vaccinations became available to the older age groups first.

“We definitely have seen a shift, really in the last few months, we’re seeing a lot of younger people,” said Dr. Thad Golden, director of McLeod Health’s medical critical care unit.

He added that “younger” in this context could mean patients in their 20s, 30s and 40s, because many of last year’s hospitalized COVID-19 patients were in their 70s and 80s.

Horry County as a whole has reported 29,296 coronavirus cases since last March, more than 30% of which were in people in the 11-30 age bracket, according to DHEC. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 447 people in Horry County have died of the coronavirus.

Horry County Schools allowed individual high schools to make decisions about how to celebrate prom, and a few different avenues have taken shape with various levels of safety precautions.

Conway High School hosted its prom this weekend with a seated dinner, photo booth and other activities, where students can bring one guest and masks are required except when eating. Some area schools are holding senior dinners in lieu of a traditional prom.

Melissa Brown-Rabon’s daughter Peyton attended Aynor High School’s coronavirus-era prom, which was split into two sessions to encourage distancing. Masks were required at the event and there was tape on the floor as a reminder not to dance in groups.

“They were hoping to have a prom, but they would rather everybody got to go together,” Brown-Rabon said.

To mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, schools in the area should take advantage of South Carolina’s weather and prioritize outdoor events when possible, Golden said.

Younger age groups are getting vaccinated slower as the state’s demand for COVID-19 vaccines dips as a whole. But both the health department and area hospitals are still adamant about the importance of getting vaccinated. For young people, it’s a matter of “social responsibility,” Golden said.

“Although a particular young person may do well if they get the virus, they can spread it and spread it,” he said. “Not only within the community but also to older family members so we know that’s problematic.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the older populations have been under a microscope since they’re generally more susceptible to severe infections.

That may have made them more eager to get the vaccine when it became available, but teens and young adults should still take advantage of the opportunity, even if it’s for no reason other than their social calendar, Kelly said. If unvaccinated young people are exposed to or infected with COVID-19, they’ll still have to isolate.

“Gone from fun summer activities, gone from summer job, gone from travels ... isolated from friends,” she said. “There are real social reasons for them to want to get vaccinated.”