The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine boosters are now available in Rhode Island for people ages 65 and older, those with underlying medical conditions, and residents of long-term care facilities, state officials announced Friday. Roughly 130,000 Rhode Islanders may be eligible for the Pfizer boosters, and demand for vaccinations is expected to be higher for the next […]
COVID-19
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A new anxiety for vaccinated Rhode Islanders: breakthrough infections
Even if you’re fully vaccinated against COVID-19, it’s hard not to feel nervous when you hear about so-called breakthrough infections. And since the arrival of the more contagious Delta variant, we’re hearing more reports of fully-vaccinated people in Rhode Island and other states with high vaccination rates testing positive for the coronavirus. Brown University last […]
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R.I. will mandate vaccinations for nursing home staff and other health care workers
Rhode Island will require all employees of nursing homes, hospitals and other state-licensed health care facilities to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 1., Gov. Daniel J. McKee said Tuesday. Until then, workers at those facilities who are not fully vaccinated will have to be tested twice weekly, McKee said, in addition to complying […]
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Who’s most at risk with the Delta variant in Rhode Island? Hint: It’s a 200,000 person question
It’s been more than a week since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new recommendations that everyone, even people who are fully vaccinated, start wearing masks indoors again and in places with high COVID-19 transmission rates, which includes Rhode Island. Amid rising anxiety among public health experts nationwide about the fast-spreading Delta variant, […]
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Working in a Rhode Island hospital does not require a COVID-19 vaccination – yet
Rhode Island’s major hospital systems are continuing to encourage – but not mandate – vaccinations against COVID-19 for its employees. But that could change in the wake of rising infections driven by the spread of the more contagious Delta variant and growing pressure from health professional associations recommending mandatory vaccinations for health care workers to […]
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Will the rise of the Delta variant mean a return to mandatory masking in Rhode Island?
The fast-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus which emerged in Rhode Island just a few weeks ago is raising alarms in other parts of the country with lower vaccination rates. Nationally, the Delta variant makes up about 83% of new coronavirus cases, up from about 50% the week of July 3, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director […]
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One place where Rhode Islanders are unlikely to receive a COVID-19 vaccination: a doctor’s office
The COVID-19 vaccine has been widely available for about three months at Rhode Island pharmacies and clinics, but doctor’s offices have been slow to administer them to their patients. Only 12% of Rhode Island’s primary care offices surveyed offer the vaccinations in their offices, according to data presented Tuesday to the state’s COVID-19 Vaccine Subcommittee. […]
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R.I. receives $7.2 million in federal funds to help replenish the public health workforce
Rhode Island will receive an infusion of $7.2 million in federal funds during the next two years to replenish the workforces of the state’s public health, school-based health, and community-based organizations to continue the response and recovery to COVID-19. The funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease, Control and Prevention is designed to help ensure […]
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A former vaccine skeptic now preaches faith in science to people of color in R.I.
The Rev. Howard M. Jenkins, Jr. was preparing for the launch of Rhode Island’s first mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic for people of color in mid-April when his cell phone started blowing up. Inside his cramped office at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, in Providence, the pastor was fielding frantic calls about that weekend’s clinic […]
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Rhode Island to lift nearly all restrictions on businesses, social gatherings, starting Friday
Restaurants and other businesses around the state will be able to remove their plexiglass dividers, dispense with social distancing and operate at full capacity starting Friday. But masking and social distancing requirements will continue for now in other public places including schools, child care facilities and youth sports — where many children remain unvaccinated — […]
