Michael Bilow

RI COVID-19 vaccinations open for age 75-plus now, age 65-74 next week

COVID-19 vaccination reservations can now be made for everyone age 75 or older who lives, works, or goes to school in Rhode Island, the RI Department of Health (DoH) announced this morning. Actual vaccination appointments begin tomorrow, Thursday, February 18, at the two state-run points of dispensing (PODs), Dunkin Donuts Center POD, 1 La Salle […]

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State of the State: RI Gov. Raimondo cites “courage to lead” in valediction

The State of the State message on Wednesday, February 3, an annual tradition that usually provides the governor with an opportunity to lay out plans for the coming year, instead took on a valedictory tone for Gina Raimondo, expected to resign and be succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Dan McKee as soon as she is confirmed […]

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RI Health Director Defends Vaccine Rollout

On Friday, January 28, the regular weekly COVID-19 press conference conducted by Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the RI Department of Health (RI DoH), was unusually chaotic. In prepared remarks that were uncharacteristically defensive for the normally diplomatic Alexander-Scott, she avoided mentioning. but tacitly addressed, recent criticism in the media for what is widely seen […]

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Granting Immunity: COVID vaccine roll-out stymied by lack of supply

“We’ve crossed the 30,000 doses mark… as of 9am,” said Dr. Philip Chan of the RI Department of Health (DoH) in a press briefing late in the afternoon on Friday, January 8. “This morning, 31,541 doses have been administered and 1,798 people were fully immunized, meaning they received their second and final dose of the […]

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New Treatment Available: Monoclonal antibody treatments for all eligible RI patients

A new treatment for COVID-19 patients is available in RI to anyone who tests positive and is age 65 or older, or has an underlying health condition: a one-shot infusion of monoclonal antibodies. It is most effective when administered as soon as possible after testing positive, and it is hoped that it can reduce severity […]

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On the Dotted Line: RI likely unaffected by delay in federal pandemic relief

President Donald Trump signed the combined $900 billion pandemic relief bill and $1.4 trillion omnibus funding bill around 8pm on Sunday, December 27, after almost a week of issuing implied threats that he might not do so. The delay already allowed critical unemployment insurance (UI) provisions to lapse the prior day, although the bill provides […]

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Don’t Panic: Explaining coronavirus mutations

In the last few days, there has been a near-panic reaction to the discovery of a mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. The mutated lineage – in virology, a “lineage” suggests a variant somewhat closer to its immediate ancestors than a “strain” – is now named “Variant of Concern 202012/01,” having been referenced […]

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No Holiday for Death at the ACI

A second inmate has died from COVID-19 at the Adult Correctional Institution (ACI), according to a statement from the RI Department of Corrections (DoC) on the afternoon of Friday, December 25. Motif previously reported the first inmate death on Saturday, December 19, and the first staff death on Monday, December 14. “The inmate requested ‘Comfort […]

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