Former Benny’s in Middletown is newest state-run mass vaccination site

MIDDLETOWN, R.I (WLNE) – A third state-run mass vaccination site has officially opened in Middletown at the former Benny’s location on West Main Road.

The site is one of two new sites to be opened in March, the other at the former Sears building on Diamond Hill Road in Woonsocket.

The Middletown pod started vaccinating people on Wednesday morning, and slots filled up fast.

“(I) went online, and just searched every day and there was 180 available here when I looked,” said Paul Contino of Jamestown who got his first shot Wednesday. “I take care of my elderly parents, my parents are often at my house and I have to take care of them so better safe than sorry.”

The first clinic at the Middletown site is administering Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. On Saturday, the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine will be administered.

“Well I’ll tell ya, everyone was very helpful, me being a senior I had no problems. It was no pain, no nothing, it was like a regular flu shot,” said Bernard Wilson of Barrington who also got his first shot at the Middletown site on Wednesday with his wife. “Very smooth. You go in and they identify you at least three times to make sure they’re giving the right person the right shot, and made me feel comfortable.”

On its first day, around 500 doses were administered. The site will soon double its capacity as more doses arrive in Rhode Island from the federal government.

“Over the course of the next few weeks, we expect that this pod will be doing about 150 folks an hour, so up to 6,000 a week,” said Emily Martuscello, FEMA Region 1 group supervisor. “Right now, we are doing a Pfizer clinic. We plan to do the Janssen, Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and then if the state asks us to do Moderna we’ll be doing that one too.”

Martuscello said there are more than 60 volunteers at the Middletown site from 12 agencies across the country. FEMA is administering the vaccine and helping direct people where to go when they arrive.

“We have volunteers that came in from all over the country. We have people from California, Texas… they came to the Northeast in the cold and they were just so excited to be a part of this effort.”

Click here to book an appointment and view available clinics.

©WLNE-TV/ABC6 2021