Vaccine eligibility to open to next groups starting Friday

March 11, 2021 3:52 pm

Sam LaFrance,

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE)- The RIDOH and Gov. Dan McKee announced on Thursday that vaccine eligibility will expand to new groups on Friday.

Rhode Islanders that are 60-64 years old will become eligible as well as those that are 16-64 with specific preexisting conditions.

Residents that fall into the 16-64 group are eligible if they have any of the following:

Diabetes
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Emphysema
Cystic Fibrosis
Heart Disease
Kidney Disease
Cancer
AIDS/HIV
Sickle Cell Disease
Weakened Immune System

Starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, new appointments for vaccination will be added to http://www.vaccinateri.org/.

CVS and Walgreens will start accepting new appointments for newly eligible people starting at 11 a.m.

Gov. McKee stressed the importance of distributing the vaccine, “Our goal is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, and opening eligibility to this next group of Rhode Islanders is an important and encouraging step toward that goal.”