COVID-19 pandemic

How to define eligibility for priority groups in Phase 2 of the state COVID-19 vaccination program was the subject of the regular weekly meeting of the Vaccine Sub-Committee at the RI Department of Health (DoH) on Friday, January 22. The goal is to have this clearly settled by the time Phase 2 is expected to […]

“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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

The Moderna vaccine against COVID-19 was unanimously approved for use in RI this morning at an emergency meeting of the RI Department of Health (DoH) Vaccine Sub-Committee, following the issuance by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) on Friday, December 18. Doses are expected to begin arriving in […]

A press briefing from the RI Department of Health (RI DoH) COVID-19 vaccine team late in the afternoon on Wednesday, December 16, sounded like a victory lap: Everything was going to plan, the complicated series of deliveries of the Pfizer vaccine – so far the only one granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the […]