Tiverton, R.I. COVID-19

The following information is from the State regarding vaccines being made available to those age 65 and above.  There will be a public registration offered by the State to be vaccinated at two major vaccine sites:

• Sockanosset Site at 100 Sockanosset Cross Road, Cranston RI 02920

• Dunkin’ Donuts Center at 1 LaSalle Square, Providence RI 02903

You can register starting Monday, February 22, 2021 using www.vaccinateri.org or calling (844) 930-1779 to schedule an appointment.

Tiverton and Little Compton will continue to provide limited vaccines at the Tiverton High School over the next four weeks for our seniors age 75 and above.  Those vaccinated at the Tiverton High School will also be guaranteed to receive their second vaccine shot in Tiverton four weeks after receiving their first dose.  The State has not permitted us to vaccinate anyone under the age of 75 locally at this time.  Those age 65 to 74 must register with the States vaccine sites in order to be given a vaccine beginning on Monday, February 22, 2021.  We do not know at this time if or when this restriction will be lifted by the State.

Please click the link below for more information.

Your Path to Free Vaccination

Governor Gina M. Raimondo and the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) today announced that all Rhode Islanders 75 and older can now register for an appointment at one of the two State-run vaccination sites. Appointments will begin tomorrow, February 18. Beginning Monday, February 22, scheduling will open to any Rhode Islander 65 and older.

Phase 1 of Rhode Island’s vaccination campaign has been focused on preserving the health care system and reaching groups most likely to be hospitalized – nursing home and other congregate residents, people in high-density communities, and older Rhode Islanders. While targeting these high-risk groups took more time than opening appointments to the general population from the outset, it also had the intended effect of preventing more severe cases of COVID-19, more significantly decreasing hospitalizations, and speeding up the reopening of our economy. Over the past month, Rhode Island saw a 46% decrease in hospitalizations, compared to 32% nationally and 22% in our neighboring states. And the decrease is even more significant among those in targeted groups.

Because of this positive impact from Phase 1, Rhode Island can now move into Phase 2 and begin vaccinating every Rhode Islander by age group. This will allow for a significantly faster pace of vaccination. In addition to opening appointments to anyone 65 and older on Monday, the State is taking several steps to ensure the speed and efficacy of this next phase. We will continue to work in partnership with all cities and towns, with a particular emphasis on high-density communities most impacted by COVID-19, to ensure the vaccine is efficiently and equitably distributed. The State will be working with municipalities to ensure those unable to get near-term local appointments can be redirected to open appointments at the State-run sites. In addition, we will be dramatically scaling up capacity in these State-run sites, with more sites to come online in the northern and southern regions of Rhode Island and a goal of doubling the daily capacity at State-run sites from 1,400 to 2,800 over the coming weeks.

“With the success of Phase 1 in shoring up our health care system, and the ability for speed and scale in Phase 2, Rhode Island is well-positioned to stay ahead of COVID-19,” said Governor Gina M. Raimondo. “Now, with a single website and phone number to sign up for appointments at any of our State-run sites, we’re taking our successful testing model and bringing it to this final frontier in our fight to end this pandemic.”

The two State-run vaccination sites opening tomorrow for anyone 75+ are the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence and Sockanosset Cross Road in Cranston. Other options for vaccination still include going to a select retail pharmacy or a local or regional clinic. Please only schedule an appointment in one place so that all eligible people can get vaccinated as quickly as possible. Once an appointment is made, people are guaranteed a vaccine for their time slot. Due to limited supply of the vaccine, appointments are expected to fill up quickly. RIDOH urges patience. If supply increases, additional appointment will be added accordingly.

Registering for Vaccination at a State-run Site

To register to be vaccinated at one of the State-run sites, visit VaccinateRI.org. People who cannot register online can get help by calling the automated line at 844-930-1779. Going forward, the call center will be open on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. and weekends from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Through both systems, an individual can either make a personal appointment or an appointment for someone else who is in the eligible age category.

Appointments are currently open through February 27. Additional appointments may be added through the week as slots open. Appointments are expected to fill up quickly.

Registering for Vaccination at a Pharmacy

People who are 75 and older can contact CVS or Walgreens about appointments at a retail pharmacy location. To register, people can go to CVS.com, use the CVS Pharmacy phone app, or call 800-746-7287. For Walgreens, go to Walgreens.com/ScheduleVaccine or call your local Walgreens.

Registering for Vaccination at a Local or Regional Clinic

Cities and towns are managing the registration process for local and regional clinics. Most cities and towns have been vaccinating their oldest residents first and will continue to do so. People can contact their city or town directly to learn more.

Vaccine Interest Notification List

While people who are younger than 65 years of age cannot yet register to be vaccinated, they can add their contact information to a Vaccine Information Notification List to get updates as eligibility opens to new groups. Enrolling in this list does not guarantee an appointment for vaccination. To enroll in the Vaccine Information Notification List, visit portal.ri.gov.

There is no insurance requirement to get vaccinated, and no one has to pay to get vaccinated. For more information about vaccination in Rhode Island, visit C19vaccineRI.org.

It will take some time for everyone who wants a vaccine to schedule appointments and get vaccinated. Please be patient. You will have an opportunity to receive vaccine.

The three main ways people will be able to get vaccinated are in their city or town, at pharmacies, or at a State-run vaccination site.

This weekend, some CVS and Walgreens stores will begin registering people who are age 75 and older for vaccinations. You must have an appointment to get vaccinated at these locations.

You can book CVS appointments starting as early as February 6. Visit cvs.com, use the CVS Pharmacy app, or call 1-800-746-7287 to schedule.

You can book Walgreens appointments starting as early as February 7. Visit Walgreens.com/ScheduleVaccine or call your local Walgreens pharmacy.

I am going to be as frank as I can so you get a very clear picture of what Tiverton is doing with respect to vaccines. Believe me, I wish we had vaccines available for everyone but as of right now we are getting a very limited supply to distribute. Today we are vaccinating 80 individuals in Bristol (all over the age of 75).

We are creating a list at Town Hall of those who are 75 and over who are calling in to register with names /DOB /address/ and phone numbers. We used what lists we had for the vaccines given in this first allocation as that is what the Department of Health suggested, but since then, we have created lists from the calls we are receiving. When we get final authorization of weekly vaccine allocations we will sort the list oldest to youngest and register those individuals for  appointments. As you might imagine, there is no method of Town Hall staff to validate medical conditions and we certainly do not want to create any records of personal health issues for residents. Right now vaccines are given in Bristol at Colt State Park but we are advocating with the State to have them given here in town along with Little Compton residents.

We have been told to expect 110 vaccine doses every week beginning 2/18/21 for four weeks Those selected in the first four weeks will be given a second shot four weeks later. We have no further information from the State beyond the next eight weeks.

We have 1,850 seniors on our voter list 75 years of age and older plus some 150 more over 75 who stayed here in Tiverton that normally reside elsewhere during winter months. At this rate it will be nearly eight months just to vaccinate the population of 75 and older in Tiverton with first and second shots unless the
State provides more vaccines than what they allocated above.

We are building an online web portal for all residents to register but again, we will select people based on age oldest to youngest when we receive notice from the State of vaccine allocations granted to Tiverton. We hope to have this web based registry up and running by early next week. We will also create a phone
bank for people who do not have internet to call in at certain days and times to register.

We know this is not what everyone wants to hear but it is what we have been told to do by the State. As more information and updates about additional vaccines come to light we will post to the Town’s web page.

I suggest contacting your medical professional and or your pharmacist to see if and when they may be allowed to provide vaccines. I am hoping other venues will be allowed beyond just the Town to provide these critical vaccines.

I do hope this information was helpful. Please do follow our website as we roll out a web based portal next week. We will try and keep information as current as we can.

Regards,
Chris Cotta
Town Administrator

Because of the inclement weather expected, all State-operated COVID-19 testing sites will be closed on Monday, February 1st. State sites are any of the locations scheduled through portal.ri.gov or the K-12 test scheduling service.

Additionally, COVID-19 vaccinations will not be happening on Monday at Rhode Island’s regional clinics in Bristol, Providence, and East Greenwich. (Two other regional clinics are in Smithfield and Narragansett, but they were not scheduled to operate on Monday.) These clinics are all operating on an appointment only basis. People who had appointments for Monday for the Bristol, Providence, and East Greenwich sites will be contacted directly about rescheduling. Most of the appointments for tomorrow were for first responders and healthcare providers. Some limited vaccinating of people 75 years of age and older had been scheduled for the clinics in Bristol and East Greenwich.