PROVIDENCE – The first phase of COVID-19 vaccine distribution will last in Rhode Island through at least February, said Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the R.I. Department of Health, during a call with reporters Tuesday.
“It will likely go longer [than February], as well,” she said.
Phase I, which began 15 days ago with the first vaccine administered to a Lifespan Corp. emergency doctor, includes front-line health care workers, people at highest risk because of their occupation or age, and those in communities hardest-hit.
Central Falls, which has been hit particularly hard throughout the pandemic, will begin vaccinating its population Wednesday. Providence and Pawtucket are among other communities that have been hit hard by the virus, including in positivity rate, rate of spread and hospitalizations.
“Equity is a key priority throughout,” said Alexander-Scott of the vaccination plan.
Some of Rhode Island’s nursing home residents and staff received their first doses through a pharmacy partnership on Monday. More than half the facilities in Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls were made a priority, and are expected to have administered the first round of doses by the end of the week.
Based on supply, vaccinations in other congregate settings will start sometime in late January, according to Alexander-Scott. These settings include assisted-living facilities, elderly housing with residential services, group homes for older adults, and other congregate settings.
Alexander-Scott told reporters that setting a specific date on when vaccinations of certain groups and phases begin may be challenging because of the uncertainty of shipments so far. Earlier this month, Gov. Gina M. Raimondo said she hadn’t received an explanation from the federal government for why the state’s dose allocation was cut from 10,725 to 6,825 for the week of Dec. 21.
Alexander-Scott said there has been “some variability” on the number of doses Rhode Island is receiving each week.
“There will be weeks that we get less vaccine than we expected,” she said. “We are prepared to adjust for that as we need to.”
Rhode Island has received a total of about 30,700 doses of vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. This does not include doses that have been allocated to the nursing home partnership with CVS Health Corp. and Walgreens, according to Trisha Washburn, chief of RIDOH’s Center for Preventive Services and co-lead of the COVID-19 Mass Vaccination Workgroup.
However, as of 9 a.m. on Tuesday, 12,869 individuals have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to data provided by the state health department. It is unclear if the other nearly 17,830 doses will be used to provide those individuals a second dose.
Joseph Wendelken, spokesman for the health department, was not immediately available to respond to requests for comment from the Providence Business News.
Phase II of vaccinating Rhode Islanders will include older adults not included in Phase I and critical infrastructure workers. The governor will likely be vaccinated in Phase II as a critical infrastructure worker, according to Alysia Mihalakos, chief of RIDOH’s Center for Emergency Preparedness and Response and co-lead of the COVID-19 Mass Vaccination Workgroup.
“It’s a very large group,” said Alexander-Scott.
Alexander-Scott said RIDOH is still finalizing the details for Phase II with the Rhode Island COVID-19 Vaccine Subcommittee.
Alexa Gagosz is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Gagosz@PBN.com. You may also follow her on Twitter at @AlexaGagosz.
