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Your Coronavirus Update – Today, Jan. 19, 2021
Photo: Gillette Stadium doing healthcare workers in mass vaccinations, 500 a day, leading up to 5,000 a day, eventually the general public. – CBS, Boston
Rhode Island & Vicinity
No mass vaccination sites have been announced. Schools are being informally mentioned for the future, as well as the Sockanosset facility in Cranston, to be run by the RI National Guard. Also mentioned turning testing sites over to vaccination sites.
Governor Raimondo will no longer appear at RI coronavirus state update press conferences. Dr. Scott will take over. No update has been scheduled so far this week.
Lt. Gov. McKee will hold a live update, particularly for small businesses, but also touching on other topics at NOON TODAY: https://www.facebook.com/LGDanMcKee/ [facebook.com]
Massachusetts has identified its first case of COVID-19 variant virus.
Connecticut residents aged 75+ can now schedule vaccines, though it is expected that, for now, demand will exceed supply.
RI has received approx. 108,000 doses and administered approximately 48,000 vaccines.
40% of nursing home staff have not been vaccinated and that number is expected to decrease in 2nd round of visits to nursing homes.
Massachusetts is pondering mixing vaccinations and voting for an upcoming special election.
New rules in Massachusestts take effect for students learning from home. Live instruction must be 3.5 hours a day for hybrid models and 4 hours a day for fully remote schools.
One Massachusetts vendor is offering those who get vaccinated at Gillette a free big pretzel.
New Bedford is demanding a local mass vaccination site in the SouthCoast area for their residents.
The Boston Marathon is setting up a virtual training room for those who would normally have participated in the marathon, which is being canceled for 2021.
As of Fri, 1/15, 51,220 vaccines were administered – 41,977 were first doses. 72,175 doses have been delivered to the state – leaving 20,955 unused at this point.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island said making telemedicine rules created during the pandemic permanent ‘may not necessarily achieve the goals of high quality, affordable care,’
1,549 doses have been given out in Central Falls, extending now to pharmacies and healthcare providers to reach more people.
An online registry for people to sign up for vaccinations is “being considered” but nothing developed yet.
What identification will be required when the public or non-groups are vaccinated is being “talked about” but no decision yet.
A new testing site has been located in Johnston at St. Jesus Church – check RIDOH’s site for hours.
Rhode Island officials have seen a spike in fraudulent unemployment insurance claims since the beginning of the year,
A new asymptomatic testing site has been set up at Roger Williams Park Zoo
From Lt.. Gov. Dan McKee – updates:
Incoming Governor McKee spoke separately with Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont to discuss how their states will cooperate to achieve an effective pandemic response and economic recovery in the region. He also met with Rhode Island State Police Colonel James Manni earlier this week. The Colonel updated the Incoming Governor on how the State Police has adapted its public safety operations during COVID-19 and highlighted their role in Rhode Island’s pandemic response.
McKee met with RI’s Office of Management & Budget. The Incoming Governor will be submitting a budget to the General Assembly in March.
Reimburse states for deploying the National Guard to support vaccinations, and provide additional FEMA assistance.
Massachusetts is removing its flu vaccine requirement for students due to data showing a mild flu season
Over 180 dealers at Twin River will have their hours cut, which will also cut off their healthcare, according to media reports.
This Thursday at a special Cranston City Council meeting city council Vice-President Edward Brady and Council President Councilman Chris Paplauskas in a bi-partisan effort, will be introducing a resolution in support of our small businesses. The resolution asks Governor Raimondo to act without delay to allow small businesses to resume their normal operating hours. If the state cannot remove the restriction, we respectfully ask the state to advocate for financial dollars on behalf of impacted small businesses:
From Dr. Alexander-Scott to Rhode Islanders:
| Right now, the biggest challenge facing Rhode Island’s vaccine program – like most other states throughout the country – is that we are not receiving a lot of vaccine. Still, we are doing the best we can with what we have. To date, we have administered more than 51,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. That puts Rhode Island near the top of the CDC’s rankings of states by the number of doses administered per capita. Our systems are working, and I’m proud of the job we’re doing. Getting those doses administered is very operationally complex. From beginning to end, it involves ordering, shipping, receiving, redistribution, and more. We’re grateful to everyone throughout the state who is working to make that happen. |
| I want to provide a little more detail on who has been vaccinated this week: Almost all of the nursing homes in the state were visited once.Many hospital workers are receiving their second doses now. Urgent care staff and respiratory clinic staff are getting vaccinated, and we are continuing to hold clinics for EMS personnel, school nurses, and others.The Rhode Island National Guard is operating a clinic at Sockanosset for people who are doing COVID-19 testing, some pharmacy staff, and staff from our two Alternate Hospital Sites.Some limited vaccinating is still happening in Central Falls. |
| There was a lot of news this week about the federal government urging states to vaccinate people who are 65 years of age and older. We want to get vaccine to people older than 65 too. The limiting factor is not federal rules, or our approach in Rhode Island. The limiting factor is the amount of vaccine we are getting. We are getting 14,000 first doses of vaccine a week. There are close to 190,000 people in Rhode Island who are 65 years of age and older. It would not be honest or fair of us to say that all Rhode Islanders older than 65 can get vaccinated tomorrow, because we just don’t have the vaccine. We’ve seen the confusion and frustration that has resulted in states that have opened eligibility to groups that they did not have enough vaccine for. In Rhode Island, we are vaccinating older adults incrementally and thoughtfully. That means that when we tell you you can get vaccinated, you know that there is a real, physical vaccine waiting for you – not just that you fall into a broad category that is eligible to get a vaccine when we eventually have one. Please know that if we could, we would make sure that everyone got vaccinated immediately. But we’re just not getting enough vaccine right now, so we’re doing the best we can with what we have. I know that there is tremendous demand for vaccine, and I understand why. Frankly, this high demand gives me hope. This has been an enormously trying 10 months for so many Rhode Islanders. There will come a time when vaccine will be available for every person who wants to get vaccinated in Rhode Island. Until that time comes, we’re asking for you to be patient, and to take all the other steps we know can help keep you and the people you love safe. That means wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, and washing your hands regularly. Nicole-Alexander Scott, MD, MPHDirector, Rhode Island Department of Health |
National & International
Melinda Gates said: “It’s a shame the situation that we’re in today with so much vaccine widely available, but not yet actually given to people.” As of Friday, only about a third of the 30 million vaccination doses distributed so far in the U.S. have been administered
President-elect Biden said he would deploy the National Guard and FEMA to help with mass vaccinations around the US..
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar will resign when President-elect Joe Biden takes office, citing the Capitol riots in his resignation letter.
New Jersey identifies smoking as high-risk for coronavirus vaccination – one of two states to do so
4 States are in Phase 2 vaccination – Michigan, New York, Utah and Virginia
The US has ordered 600 million more Moderna doses.
Officials in Essex County, New Jersey sat down, about a month before vaccinations began, on Dec. 26, to work out a plan to vaccinate residents, as highlighted in the Wall Street Journal. Before getting a vaccination, residents make an appointment by calling or answering a few short questions on the county’s website. They are then sent a unique number to bring with them to check in at a vaccination site before receiving a shot; the visit usually takes about 20 minutes. police officers and sheriff’s deputies usher doses of Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine to sites. Extra shots are rushed to the local prison and promptly injected so they don’t go to waste. College students and laid-off moms volunteer to work at registration desks and answer phones. Patients who receive shots at schools line up 6 feet apart next to gym lockers.
Starbucks is partnering with Washington state to consult on vaccination models. Oregon’s governor is encouraging states to partner with an operations-based company who knows how to do detailed efforts like this.
Portugal’s public health system is on the verge of collapsing as hospitals in the areas worst-affected by a worrying surge in coronavirus cases are quickly running out of intensive care beds to treat COVID-19 patients.
47 tennis players are in strict hotel quarantine after four coronavirus cases were detected on flights to Melbourne for the Australian Open.
West Virginia uses local pharmacists, not just big chains. Smaller states are not served as much by chains such as CVS and Walgreens are in larger states.
2,600 Houston vaccination appointments get booked up in 16 minutes
Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that the U.S. is “weeks away, not months away” from considering the approval of new coronavirus vaccines US Approval of AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson Vaccines Likely ‘Weeks Away’
The world is on the brink of “catastrophic moral failure” in sharing COVID-19 vaccines, the head of the World Health Organization said on Monday, urging countries and manufacturers to spread doses more fairly around the world.
Suicide rates in Japan have jumped in the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among women and children, even though they fell in the first wave
A California man who told police that the coronavirus pandemic left him afraid to fly has been arrested on charges that he hid in a secured area at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport for three months.
India Kicks Off A Massive COVID-19 Vaccination Drive
CVS Health “has more than 90,000 trained health care professionals standing by, with the capacity to administer approximately 1 million shots per day through our 10,000 CVS Pharmacy locations across the country once the federal program is fully activated.’
The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are “essentially 100 percent effective against serious disease,” Dr. Paul Offit, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said. “It’s ridiculously encouraging.”
Creative in Lichfield, England…
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island said making telemedicine rules created during the pandemic permanent ‘may not necessarily achieve the goals of high quality, affordable care,’
WOW maybe it is the cynic in me or maybe it is what is being reveled how our government works?
But me think The RI-Doc’s are against the tella doc.. Just saying
I don’t have B/C & haven’t paid attention to telemed rules. I had my wellness check via landline (I don’t have a cell but could have used my laptop). A wellness check is a minor check-up, not a full physical. No on-line can take your pulse, check your breathing, etc. My dr. & I went over meds & he put in an order for my blood work. I had my physical scheduled for 1/5 but I had a head cold. They rescheduled my app’t. until the end of March. IMO – telemed can only go so far. I can’t get an annual physical via telemed. It has its uses but isn’t hands-on so I agree with B/C.
I don’t get your point on Gov’t. It has nothing to do with it. My dr. had called to verify my app’t. She said to come 15 minutes early, I’d be tested for COVID before I could come in the door for my exam.
My biggest concern (b/c I had used the Coastal Med. portal) is that the primary doctors haven’t received their shots (that was what I was told & I have it in writing). I have a dentist appointment on Thursday – dentists haven’t received their shots. I’m calling to see if the dentist has gotten a shot – if not, I’m canceling it. I’m sure he has all the PPE, followed the rules but I’m not chancing it.
I disagree. I don’t think RI docs are against Telemed but there’s only so much Telemed is good for. Telemed can’t give me an ECG or check to see if I have a cavity. I also fall into the cracks of Phase 3 – over 65 w/no underlying conditions. I keep canceling appts. and I’m at an age where I could have an underlying condition & don’t know it.
Until drs. get their shots, I’m staying away. If they get their shots and then want to test me, I’m okay with it. Telemed is a tool so we can keep in touch but both the drs. & patients want the real deal.
I would question why our primary drs./dentists aren’t higher on the list. The powers that be don’t want us to cancel appointments but they put our drs. down at the bottom.
It’s not R.I. – it seems to be an issue in too many states.