If you haven’t rolled up your sleeve for the jab, you’re not alone. In fact, you’re in the majority. Here’s why doctors think the shot is important.
vaccine
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A Rhode Island pediatrician weighs in on vaccinating kids against COVID-19
Rhode Island may begin vaccinating children as young as age 5 against COVID-19 as early as Nov. 8. Dr. Elizabeth Lange, a pediatrician and former president of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, spoke with Health Reporter Lynn Arditi about vaccinating children. If a parent asks you how to weigh the […]
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R.I. mandate for health care workers drives up vaccination rates but 92 facilities still shy of 100% compliance
Rhode Island health care workers must now be vaccinated against COVID-19 or lose their jobs. By the Oct. 1 deadline, the overwhelming majority of those workers had decided to get vaccinated. “I kind of have to get it for work, so (it’s) not really an option,” said Emma Landroche, 22, a nursing assistant, as she […]
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A new anxiety for vaccinated Rhode Islanders: breakthrough infections
Even if you’re fully vaccinated against COVID-19, it’s hard not to feel nervous when you hear about so-called breakthrough infections. And since the arrival of the more contagious Delta variant, we’re hearing more reports of fully-vaccinated people in Rhode Island and other states with high vaccination rates testing positive for the coronavirus. Brown University last […]
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Who’s most at risk with the Delta variant in Rhode Island? Hint: It’s a 200,000 person question
It’s been more than a week since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new recommendations that everyone, even people who are fully vaccinated, start wearing masks indoors again and in places with high COVID-19 transmission rates, which includes Rhode Island. Amid rising anxiety among public health experts nationwide about the fast-spreading Delta variant, […]
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Will the rise of the Delta variant mean a return to mandatory masking in Rhode Island?
The fast-spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus which emerged in Rhode Island just a few weeks ago is raising alarms in other parts of the country with lower vaccination rates. Nationally, the Delta variant makes up about 83% of new coronavirus cases, up from about 50% the week of July 3, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director […]
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A former vaccine skeptic now preaches faith in science to people of color in R.I.
The Rev. Howard M. Jenkins, Jr. was preparing for the launch of Rhode Island’s first mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic for people of color in mid-April when his cell phone started blowing up. Inside his cramped office at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, in Providence, the pastor was fielding frantic calls about that weekend’s clinic […]
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R.I. parents can sign up 12 to 15-year-olds for Pfizer vaccine as early as Tuesday
Rhode Island residents will be able to schedule appointments for children as young as 12 to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine as early as the end of the day Tuesday. Parents or legal guardians will be required to sign a form to authorize 12 to 15-year-olds to receive the Pfizer vaccine, but they will not […]
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Nearing goal, R.I. shifts to vaccinate 75+ at home
Rhode Island health officials reported Thursday that more than 65% of people 16 and older who live, work or attend school in Rhode Island have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. State health officials say that’s just shy of Governor Daniel J. McKee’s goal of vaccinating 70% of eligible residents by Mother’s […]
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Rhode Island resumes Johnson & Johnson vaccinations
Rhode Island will resume use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, joining states including Massachusetts, Connecticut in ending a pause that began April 13. The decision to restart the one-shot vaccine for residents 18 and older, announced late Monday, follows the recommendation on Friday by an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and […]