There was a different look at the weekly COVID press conference today. In addition to newly minted Governor Dan McKee’s presence, state officials sat behind tables throughout the conference, with local thought leaders drawing comparisons to Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York.
“Together we will beat COVID-19, who is our enemy and we will beat our enemy,” said Gov. McKee today. Vaccine rollout continues to pay dividends, according to state health officials. As of this morning, 290,000 doses have been administered, which means 25% of all Rhode Islanders older than 16 have received at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The latest 7-day rolling average estimates that 8,000 shots are going into arms every day across the Ocean State. Compared to the opening months of the vaccination campaign, dose administration is up 210%.
The snowballing number of vaccine supply is key to the effort. The new one-shot Jannsen vaccine started arriving in-state this week. Colloquially known as the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, it was swiftly approved at the state’s local vaccine subcommittee for use in state after federal regulators granted it emergency passage as a drug. RIDOH reports the new vaccine performed very well against new variants of coronavirus and was 100% effective in clinical trials in preventing hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19. The state has already received over 9,000 of the new vaccine. With few exceptions, most Rhode Islanders continue to get vaccinated in age groups. State leaders say they are on track to start vaccinating the 60-64 age group starting in the middle of March. Gov. McKee repeated his desire to start vaccinating teachers as part of a targeted group, getting the first shots in by the end of March, in line with President Joe Biden’s plan. CVS Pharmacy announced yesterday they would start allowing teachers to be vaccinated in their retail clinics. Walgreens has said it is not vaccinating teachers just yet.
RIDoH reports the Central Falls campaign has shown success in a community hard hit by the virus. Thirty-four percent of all adults in the state’s smallest city have received the first dose. For senior residents it’s higher, with reported 93% receiving their first dose. State leaders say COVID-19 cases have dropped 63% in Central Falls since the start of the campaign.
Commerce Secretary Pryor was on hand to announce new “flexibility” when it comes to COVID regulations handed down from the state. Gyms and fitness centers can begin increasing their capacity tomorrow. The limit will be raised from 1 person per 125 sq. ft in the facility to 1 person per 100 sq ft. Pryor acknowledged this change would mean a few more customers for smaller businesses and dozens more for bigger or box chain fitness centers. He stressed to contact Department of Business Regulation if a small business struggling under the COVID regulations as DBR has carved out exceptions for smaller facilities.
Restaurants will see their capacity limits raised from 50% of total capacity to 66% of total capacity. Other regulations, such as table distancing and household limits, remain in effect. Catered events will be allowed to raise their capacities. Pyror specifically stated there would be guidelines around dancing at formal events, noting that this was a particularly valuable point to the wedding industry.
Additionally funerals will start seeing relaxed regulations as numbers continue to improve, 100 indoors, 150 outdoors. Outside regulations will begin changing as daylight savings kicks in mid-March, and state leaders are keen to find out whether people will stay outside for longer if there’s more light and warmer weather.
Finally Dr. Alexander-Scott announced a fresh round of serology testing. RIDoH performed the test for antibodies in a randomized sample of Ocean State households last year. State officials say they plan to do so again, sending out letters inviting 10,000 households to get the serology test. Dr. Alexander-Scott said the data collected would go toward understanding and planning for COVID-19 in the future.
