CVS to offer vaccines in Newport; Some restrictions on businesses loosened up;

Good Evening,

Runnin’ a bit late today, but there was a ton of news today and we want to make sure we get it all to you as soon as we could. Here we go…

1 - CVS Health will begin offering vaccines to those 75+ at their pharmacy at 181 Bellevue Avenue in Newport beginning February 11. Full details here.

2 - Dr. Nicole Alexander Scott, Director of Rhode Island Department of Health, hosted a press briefing to provide an update on COVID-19 in Rhode Island.

3 - During the 90+ minute press briefing Dr. Nicole Alexander Scott talked alot about vaccine efforts. A few takeaways;

Vaccines start this weekend for those 75+ at select CVS locations.

The vaccine will be available at CVS and Walgreens, vaccinating people who are 75+, though they expect additional pharmacies to come on board as well. 14 Walgreens locations start vaccinating Tuesday; registration starts Sunday A.M.: http://walgreens.com or call the store.

Where will you get vaccinated? Rhode Islanders will be able to get vaccinated at three types of places.

Local and regional vaccination sites will include community clinics run by cities and towns, like what happened last weekend's pilot for some 75 and older. These local and regional vaccination sites are going to be an important part of our vaccination infrastructure.

State-run vaccination sites are not yet open. They expect them to be open later this month, as more vaccine comes into Rhode Island. Strategically, they are not going to open these sites until we have enough vaccine to run these as mass vaccination clinics.

As a reminder, here’s the estimated timeline.