Photo gallery: A vaccination drive in a coronavirus hotspot
Published Mon Feb 15 2021 11:00:17 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Central Falls, R.I. is at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. The one-square mile city of just under 20,000 people has the highest per capita infection rate in a state that is among America’s hardest-hit.
by Gretchen Ertl
Photographer Gretchen Ertl and health reporter Lynn Arditi visited a vaccination clinicone Saturday in mid-January at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Central Falls. Photos by Gretchen Ertl, special to The Public’s Radio.
Michaela Young, a pharmacy student at the University of Rhode Island, administers a COVID-19 shot to Maurice Landry, 79, of Central Falls. Gloria Arango, 43, a housekeeper in Central Falls and single mother, talks to Brynne Costa, a pharmacy student at the University of Rhode Island, after being vaccinated. Costa is among the volunteers who monitor people who are vaccinated in case of any reaction. Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera, who is helping lead the vaccination drive, talks with Dr. William Gibson, (left) who drove down to Rhode Island with two family members who are also doctors, to help administer vaccines. Pharmacist Eugenio Fernandez, center, talks with Central Falls resident Leroy Sayegh, 84, as Leslie Montague, a nurse at Rhode Island Hospital, checks on Sayegh after his vaccination. Irma Resendiz, a “health ambassador” for the City of Central Falls, directs people registered for appointments to get vaccinated to line up outside a clinic at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Chairs are set up six-feet apart in the observation area where people who are vaccinated must wait 15 to 30 minutes to ensure no negative reaction. The Moderna vaccine for the clinic was provided by the state to Pharmacist Eugenio Fernandez, who is using it in Central Falls, which has the state’s highest COVID-19 infection rate. Dr. Michael Gibson, an interventional cardiologist and professor at Harvard Medical School, drove down from Boston to help vaccinate residents in Central Falls. He says clinics like this reach people who do not have cars to drive to mass vaccination sites.The last patient of the day to be vaccinated is Bea Mandel, 23, of Providence. She works in a furniture store in Central Falls and a friend sent her the link to register because the clinic had unused doses. “I’m thrilled,’’ she said. “I’m younger and stuff so I didn’t expect to get it until like July.’’ Lauren Miller, a pharmacy student at the University of Rhode Island, administers a vaccine to Toribio Perez as Adriano Santos, left, proceeds to the waiting area after his shot.
