‘It’s time’: RIDOH vows to ramp up vaccinations and make process easier
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) announced the next steps in the state’s vaccination rollout at Thursday’s briefing and lifted some restrictions.
The briefing was led by RIDOH Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott who was joined by Rhode Island National Guard Gen. Chris Callahan and Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor.
Not in attendance were Governor Gina Raimondo and Lieutenant Governor Dan McKee. Raimondo hasn’t been attending briefings since awaiting her confirmation as U.S. Secretary of Commerce. McKee chose to not attend this week, days after he criticised the Raimondo administration on the vaccine rollout.
His spokesperson Andrea Palagi said in a statement that the reasoning was because he was being briefed on other issues.
“Incoming Governor McKee is pleased with the progress that the state has made in the last 48 hours to distribute more vaccines from its inventory and engage municipal leaders in the vaccination rollout for Rhode Islanders 75 and over. This afternoon, the Incoming Governor will be receiving briefings on pressing budget issues and continuing to evaluate strategies to speed up Rhode Island’s vaccine distribution.”
During the briefing, Dr. Alexander-Scott defended the state’s vaccine rollout that has received a lot of criticism in the last week, saying their approach with Phase 1 was the right decision, and it’s showing in the data.
“With us now having identified one of the more contagious variants of COVID-19 in Rhode Island, we feel even more confident in this decision that we have made with vaccination,” Dr. Alexander-Scott said. “We have made more progress than the rest of the country just over the last month.”
Rhode Island’s hospitalization rate has dropped by 46%, according to RIDOH’s data. Because of that, it was announced Thursday that visitiations at hospitals and long-term care facilities would resume on Friday. Long-term care facilities must be COVID-free for 14 days to have visitors.
A spokesperson for Care New England said Thursday afternoon that they would not be changing their visitiation policy at their hospitals.
“The most vulnerable, those who really suffered the most, are protected enough, and it’s time to get vaccines out to as many people as we can.”
The director acknowledged the criticism around the rollout, saying RIDOH heard the feedback “loud and clear.”
“We are there, we understand what the concerns have been, and it is time. It’s time, with our Phase 2, to get our vaccination shots administered more quickly.”
Dr. Alexander-Scott said RIDOH’s two objectives going forward are to get faster and simpler with the vaccination process.
RIDOH anticipates setting up more state-run vaccination sites in the coming weeks and consolidating clinics run by cities and towns to five regional sites.
The director said that consolidation will cut down on how long it takes from when the vaccine is shipped from a manufacturer to when it’s put in the arms of Rhode Islanders. Right now, she said, that process takes about 14 days.
“Redistribution is the number one reason why it takes time to get shots into arms,” Dr. Alexander-Scott said. “We move from having that strategic, targeted approach with multiple different vaccinators and partners, and consolidate, streamline, to a smaller number of sites that have the capacity to receive and store large amounts of vaccine.”
As for the simpler objective, the registration system for regional and state clinics will eventually be made into one, the director said.
What won’t change is how people can book an appointment with pharmacies for vaccines. That will remain in the hands of Walgreens and CVS.
The states two mass vaccination sites opened Thursday, and more than 3,000 appointments were made for the first day. RIDOH said more than 10,000 appointments have been made for the next week and a half. Registration for people aged 65 and older opens on Monday.
© WLNE-TV 2021
