R.I. will host COVID-19 vaccine clinics in schools where vaccination rates are lower than 20 percent – The Boston Globe

PROVIDENCE Rhode Island will soon begin hosting vaccine clinics in schools with vaccination rates of less than 20 percent, Governor Dan McKee announced on Wednesday.

In a COVID-19 briefing with Rhode Island Department of Health Interim Director Dr. Jim McDonald, Education Commissioner Anglica Infante-Green and other state leaders, McKee said school clinics will first be hosted in Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence, and Woonsocket.

We have work to do here. And we encourage and ask people to help get that work done, said McKee during a press conference in the gymnasium of the Lillian Feinstein Elementary School in Providence. We need to boost our boosters. This is a preventable, treatable disease. We know a lot more today than we did a year ago.

The Sackett Recreation Center will host a vaccine clinic on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the governor said. Theres an additional 17 school clinics scheduled in the city over the next month, said acting superintendent Javier Montaez.

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We cant predict whats going to happen, said Montaez when asked if hes concerned about a COVID-19 outbreak when schools reopen on Monday, after February break.

During the week of March 7, he said, all Providence high school students will have the opportunity to get a vaccine shot during school hours. Consent forms must be signed by a parent or guardian, Montaez said.

We dont think about polio anymore because we got vaccinated. Lets not politicize health care, said Infante-Green.

While the states mask mandate was lifted two weeks ago, Providence schools said it would keep kids masked. Infante-Green did not say when she plans on lifting the mask requirement in schools. Were focused on vaccinations right now, she said.

State data shows that 90.2 percent of all Rhode Island adults have completed their primary vaccine series, but only 45.8 percent of adults have received their booster dose.

In schools, about 48 percent of eligible students (which include children 5 and older) have completed their primary vaccination series. But each school district varies on vaccinations, such as in Woonsocket public schools, where only about 32 percent of eligible students have completed their primary vaccination series compared to Central Fallss 33 percent and Providence Public School Districts 35 percent.

At the Lillian Feinstein Elementary School, only 16 percent of eligible students have completed their primary vaccination series. The majority of the schools students (5 to 11 years old) became eligible for the vaccine on Nov. 3, 2021.

In the suburbs, the vaccination rates are much higher. In Narragansett, 70 percent of eligible students have completed their primary series, and in Barrington, 79 percent of eligible students have.

Were seeing the lag, said Infante-Green. We know our kids need to be in the classroom. We tried it the other way... This is what we need to do.

In early January, Montaez sent a letter to the districts families, pleading them to get their kids vaccinated.

Please act now. Vaccination against COVID-19 is the most important step you can take to protect your familys health, read the letter.

McDonald said a person is 55 times less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 if they are vaccinated and boosted compared to someone who has not received a shot.

This is the most well studied vaccine in the history of our planet, said McDonald, adding that he and his household are all fully vaccinated and boosted.

McKee also said Wednesday that he will be pushing vaccination clinics in places of worship and with among other community partners. He said Rhode Islanders can reach out to the governors office to coordinate a clinic.

Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.

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R.I. will host COVID-19 vaccine clinics in schools where vaccination rates are lower than 20 percent - The Boston Globe