PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island will shift its strategy for vaccination in the coming weeks to administer doses where people live and work, including on-site clinics at businesses and at universities and colleges.
The state will continue to run its mass-vaccination centers, as well as community-based clinics. But to get more people inoculated will mean in some cases bringing the vaccine to them, including at workplaces where the majority of employees are working in person, according to the R.I. Department of Health.
Its briefing for the state COVID-19 Vaccine Subcommittee on Tuesday included new information on upcoming efforts.
At colleges and universities, the state is helping the institutions to promote available appointments at the state-run sites and will designate days for students to get vaccinated at those sites.
The state has also scheduled clinics at some colleges and universities this week and the first week of May.
For businesses, R.I. Department of Health is working with the nonprofit Partnership for Rhode Island to identify locations for on-site, workplace vaccinations. The partnership is an organization that includes many of the largest corporations in the state.
The state is prioritizing locations where a majority of workers are on site, and several clinics have been scheduled over the next several weeks. The state also is developing an interest list, for companies interested in participating, and is preparing to expand the program to new sites.
The goal is to make it easier for people to get vaccinated, because many of these employees otherwise would not have access to an appointment, said Tricia Washburn, chief of the office of immunization for the R.I. Department of Health.
To date, 551,000 Rhode Islanders have received one dose, Washburn said.
That represents about 63% of the eligible population and about 50% of the total population. Vaccines in the U.S. now are only available to people who are 16 or older.
About 41% of the eligible population and 34% of the state’s total population have been fully vaccinated.
The state remains in Phase 2 of its vaccine distribution, using mass vaccination sites and community locations. It is beginning to shift to Phase 3, which will require more community-based contact.
“We are at an inflection point where supply begins to become greater than demand,” Washburn said. “It will be critical to utilize what we adapted in Phase 2 to become efficient, but also using an approach where we’re meeting people where they are.”
In addition to working with colleges and universities and businesses, the state will start bringing primary care physicians into the vaccination effort as well as community-based organizations where people may feel more confident in getting their vaccines.
In other developments:
– Committee members discussed the state’s decision to resume vaccinations using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which had been paused under federal guidance two weeks ago. The state announced it would resume using its Johnson & Johnson doses on Monday evening. Several committee members said they were surprised that they were not notified by the state before the resumption of vaccinations, but said they supported using the vaccines, which allow people to get vaccinated at one time, in a single dose.
– The state does not expect to receive much of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the coming weeks. Rhode Island now has about 7,200 doses available and expects to receive about 700 additional doses a week for the next several weeks.
– One week after the state opened eligibility for the vaccine to all Rhode Islanders age 16 and older, the state boosted the percentage of its 16-39 population that got vaccinated with a first dose by 10%. A total of 41 percent of that age band is now vaccinated with at least a first dose.
– 94% of the state’s residents between 65 and 74 are vaccinated with at least a first dose, the deepest penetration of vaccines among the age bands. The oldest Rhode Islanders, age 75 and up, have 84% vaccination coverage.
– The state continues to rank among the most successful states in the country for first doses administered and overall vaccinations. Rhode Island is third in the nation for the full vaccination of residents aged 65 and older. It is comparable with neighboring states, including Massachusetts and Connecticut, on full vaccination and first-dose vaccination, according to the data presented Tuesday.
– The state plans to pause its pre-registration system, because vaccine supply has increased and relatively few people are taking advantage of the advance notification system. According to Tom McCarthy, the R.I. Department of Health COVID-19 director, only 1% of the appointments are being scheduled through the system.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
