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 Square, Providence, and Sockanosset POD, 100 Sockanosset Cross Road, Cranston.

Reservations for those age 65-74 will open Monday, February 22. In a press briefing this afternoon, RI DoH Director Nicole Alexander-Scott confirmed in response to a question from Motif that actual vaccinations for this age group would begin the following day, Tuesday, February 23.

Each eligible age group can schedule a vaccination appointment on the web – VaccinateRI.org – and, although the web is preferred, voice telephone is available for others – 844-930-1779 (weekdays 7:30am–7:00pm, weekends 8:00am–4:30pm) – unable to use the web. It is possible to make an appointment for oneself or for another eligible person using either system.

Alexander-Scott said that the website is a work in progress for which significant improvements are planned. “Another thing that I wanted to share is that the customer experience is going to be a little different today than it will be in the near future. Today, when you go into the system, you have to submit all your information. And then once you do that, you can see if any slots are available. We recognize that is not ideal, especially for someone who is going to be repeatedly looking in the system for an appointment. We are working to adjust that process so that it’s a little more user-friendly, wanting to get started first, and then we’ll continue to make the improvements as we go.”

“As of 12:30pm today [Wednesday, February 17], we have made 1,331 appointments, 86 of those over the phone and the rest of them online… at the two state-run sites we have activated,” Alexander-Scott said. “On the topic of the speed of vaccinating, another piece of good news is that we got a little bump in our allocation of vaccine. We had been at the mark of 16,000 doses a week, for the last few weeks. We found out yesterday that our weekly allocation from the feds is going to be increasing to 22,500 first doses. Part of this is an actual increase in Pfizer vaccine and part of it is that Pfizer made a change that allows six doses to be drawn from vials that we were previously getting five doses from. Again, very good news.”

The telephone system also is planned for improvement, Alexander-Scott said. “Right now when you call, the system is automated: You will be prompted to enter your phone number and then you will get a call back. Our goal is to get it set up so that when you call you get a live person right away; we expect to have this in place soon. Like everything with this pandemic, we’re looking forward and making improvements every step of the way as we go.”

“Appointments are currently open through February 27. Additional appointments may be added through the week as slots open. Appointments are expected to fill up quickly,” DoH said in a statement. In the next few weeks, RI expects to bring additional state-run sites into operation in the northern and southern regions, with a goal of doubling the daily capacity at state-run sites from 1,400 to 2,800.

The Dunkin Donuts Center POD is using the Pfizer vaccine and the Sockanosset POD is using the Moderna vaccine, both of which require two doses separated by 3 to 4 weeks: this is not important for first doses, but each recipient must get a second dose of the same type as their first dose. On the website, Alexander-Scott said, users are “signing up for the first dose as the starting point, and then as they are getting that first dose, we have as many steps in place as possible to help ensure that they enroll for the second dose right then and there, so that they’re able to come back.”

In addition to the two state-run PODs, vaccination is available from select retail pharmacies, and those 75 and older can schedule appointments at a retail pharmacy location: either CVS.com, using the CVS Pharmacy phone app, or calling 800-746-7287; or Walgreens.com/ScheduleVaccine or calling any local Walgreens. Municipalities are managing the scheduling process for additional local and regional clinics; contact each city or town directly.

Alexander-Scott said that the goal is to move eligibility in lock-step across all vaccination methods, opening up to each cohort at the same time. “We want to ensure that when we move to the next eligibility group, it is done consistently the same across all three channels from the pharmacies, as well as the local-regional approach, as well as the state run approach,” she said.

For those age 65 or older, Alexander-Scott recommends using the larger-capacity state-run PODs in order to reserve smaller-capacity local and regional for those age 75 or older who may have difficulty traveling or using the web. “I do want to encourage that for going to 65-plus, we really push people toward the larger volume sites with the state-run approach that is activated. Now, when that opens on Monday [for age 65 or older], it’s really ideal to go there because it is designed to move through hundreds of individuals with vaccinating. We want our local-regional approach – our municipalities have been doing a fantastic job – really catering to those 75 years of age and older, supporting them in accessing vaccine and being able to register as they need to, making sure that they can stay local and where they need to go. I just left the call with the municipal leaders where we’re continuing to say to keep that going, make sure that they are filling all of their 75-plus slots because they’ve done a great job getting vaccine out to them, and we really want to encourage those 65 and older to go to the state run sites. We’re activating it for high volume, we want to do it as quickly and as streamlined as possible,” Alexander-Scott said. DoH spokesman Joseph Wendelken said that the daily capacity at the Sockanosset POD is 900 doses and at the Dunkin Donuts Center POD is 500 doses.

It is not necessary to schedule more than one appointment because everyone scheduled is guaranteed to be vaccinated in their assigned time slot, so making multiple reservations disadvantages others eligible for access to the extremely limited supply of vaccine.

After those age 65 and older, vaccination will be available to everyone between 16 and 64 with an underlying health condition (kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, immuno-compromised) that puts them at high risk of complications from COVID-19 and then by age strata for otherwise healthy people. Everyone not immediately eligible to schedule a vaccination (that is, everyone 16 to 64) can sign up to be notified when they are eligible at portal.ri.gov – where many people already have an account if they previously signed up for COVID-19 testing.

Under the RI COVID-19 vaccination plan, persons age 75 or older are covered in the 5th and final sub-phase of Phase 1, and persons age 65-74 are covered in the 1st sub-phase of Phase 2. Moving into each sub-phase does not require completing any prior sub-phase; for example, persons age 65-74 will become eligible while some age 75 and older will not yet have been vaccinated.

In response to a question from Motif, Alexander-Scott said that for those younger than age 65, “Going to the next level should be sometime in March. We can certainly move that up as we continue to accelerate our ability to push vaccine out and have additional supply to be able to do that… So for right now we’re in that same mid-March time, but certainly with each day we’ll continue to assess as we’re pushing it out, we’ll hope to speed it up. So no updates yet, but we’ll certainly be making that known as we have it.”

Responding to criticism about the slow pace of vaccination compared to other states – as of yesterday, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), RI is tied for 48th place in doses administered per 100,000 population – DoH in a statement said, “Phase 1 of Rhode Island’s vaccination campaign has been focused on preserving the healthcare system and reaching groups most likely to be hospitalized – nursing home and other congregate residents, people in high-density communities, and older Rhode Islanders. While targeting these high-risk groups took more time than opening appointments to the general population from the outset, it also had the intended effect of preventing more severe cases of COVID-19, more significantly decreasing hospitalizations, and speeding up the reopening of our economy. Over the past month, Rhode Island saw a 46% decrease in hospitalizations, compared to 32% nationally and 22% in our neighboring states. And the decrease is even more significant among those in targeted groups. Because of this positive impact from Phase 1, Rhode Island can now move into Phase 2 and begin vaccinating every Rhode Islander by age group. This will allow for a significantly faster pace of vaccination.”

Alexander-Scott said at today’s press briefing, “We know that treatment with monoclonal antibodies is having a big impact. We know that our leadership with testing is an important component as well. But there is also clarity on the fact that our strategy is meeting the main objectives of the first portion of our vaccination campaign in Rhode Island. The first was to protect people in our nursing homes and other congregate settings, and the second was to make sure we have a health care workforce. Nursing homes are where we have seen the vast majority of our unfortunate deaths. And we need a healthcare workforce so that emergency care is there when you need it.”