‘Who you vaccinate matters’: RIDOH details updated vaccination plan ranked by age, health, location
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) outlined the next phase of vaccinations and who they’ll go to at Thursday’s COVID-19 briefing.
RIDOH Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott said the department is being very strategic in its vaccination plan due to a limited supply coming into Rhode Island per week, but said they’re getting very close to the point when they can start vaccinating people by age group.
Dr. Alexander-Scott said RIDOH is using age, health conditions, and geographic locations to rank who’s getting a vaccine when.
“In addition to how many people you vaccinate,” Alexander-Scott said, “who you vaccinate matters.”
RIDOH is still working through vaccinating healthcare workers and those living in congregate care settings. Next up are Rhode Islanders 75 years of age and older.
A small, already selected portion of that age group will be vaccinated this weekend at five regional health clinics. Dr. Alexander-Scott said 5,000 doses will be administered to people in RIDOH’s emergency registry.
“The people in the registry will be getting contacted directly,” she said. “We expect that within two weeks, additional people who are 75 and older will be able to start registering.”
By mid-February, those 65 years of age and older will start getting their COVID-19 shots. From there, it goes by age, with the youngest group, ages 16 to 39, waiting until the summer for their first dose.
You can review the updated plan here:
However, this plan does not break down groups by occupation, which was part of the initial vaccine rollout. In the next phase officials plan to vaccinate those at highest risk first. “The aim of this next phase is to protect those at most risk for hospitalization and death from Covid-19. We need to do this so that we don’t overwhelm our health system and can reopen our economy,” Dr. Alexander-Scott said.
Lt. Governor Dan McKee, soon to be Governor, says he believes this is the best approach, “I’ve met with Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott and Major General Chris Callahan daily for the last week and that has been very beneficial hours of learning. Based on the geography and the health conditions it makes a great deal of sense.”
Those who are not elderly but fall into the five high-risk health condition groups will also be prioritized.
“People who are 16 to 64 years of age who have kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, lung disease or who are immunocompromised will have accelerated access to vaccine.”
Another consideration RIDOH is taking, Dr. Alexander-Scott said, is geographic location. Residents of Central Falls and people who live in parts of Pawtucket, North Providence, Providence, and Cranston will also be prioritized.
“People in certain communities are at greater risk. It’s not because of genetics it’s not because of anything particular to those individuals, it is connected to the environment and the conditions in those environments,” Dr. Alexander-Scott explained. “The hospitalization rate in Central Falls is 67% higher than a state wide average. The hospitalization rate in Providence is 58% higher than the state wide average.”
There is currently no way to sign up for vaccines in Rhode Island, unless your community is administering doses. Several cities and towns in Rhode Island announced Thursday that they’d begin vaccinating residents with limited supply.
RIDOH said if you are eligible for a vaccine right now, you will receive a call. For additional vaccines that will be administered in the coming weeks and months, Dr. Alexander-Scott said RIDOH will be doing broad messaging and through the media and through community organizations so that people know how to sign up.
© WLNE-TV 2021
