PROVIDENCE – Anyone in Rhode Island aged 60 to 64, and people aged 16 to 64 with specific health conditions that could make them susceptible to severe COVID-19, are newly eligible for vaccinations.
The R.I. Department of Health and Gov. Daniel J. McKee announced the expansion Thursday. It is effective Friday.
New appointments at the state’s mass-vaccination sites will be added to the website starting at 5 p.m. Friday. Walgreens and CVS Pharmacy also will adjust their eligibility criteria to reflect the groupings. The retail pharmacies will make that adjustment at 11 a.m. Friday.
The health conditions that will apply are not the same as those set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rhode Island has chosen a smaller subset of conditions that have been more pronounced in local hospitalizations with the virus.
They are: Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, lung diseases including COPD, emphysema, cystic fibrosis, heart disease, kidney disease and people who have weakened immune systems because of cancer or drugs that they are taking. The people with compromised immune systems may also include people who get chemotherapy or radiation treatment, people who have HIV or AIDS, and people with sickle cell disease.
People who have Down Syndrome and women who are pregnant also qualify for vaccination at this time.
A full list of qualifying conditions is available at the R.I. Department of Health website at https://health.ri.gov/publications/guidelines/COVID19-underlying-conditions.pdf
- To sign up at the state vaccination sites for an appointment, visit www.VaccinateRI.org.
- To sign up at CVS, visit CVS.com or call 1-800-746-7287.
- Walgreens appointments can be scheduled at Walgreens.com/ScheduleVaccine or by calling a local pharmacy.
Rhode Island now has three state-run vaccination centers that are operating. They are at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, at Sockanosset Cross Road in Cranston and at 1400 West Main Road in Middletown.
Although the cities and towns in Rhode Island also are vaccinating people, they are focused on administering second doses to people who have already received first doses, and on vaccinating teachers and educators and related staff, who also are newly eligible, the department said.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
