Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Pause The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) is announcing that Rhode Island is pausing administration of the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine as federal partners continue gathering more information. No Janssen appointments had been scheduled for release today. RIDOH is directing vaccinators that had made Janssen vaccination appointments to not administer those doses. Additional information will be shared shortly regarding people who had already made appointments for Janssen vaccine. No information reported to RIDOH has indicated that Janssen vaccine represents a health or safety concern. However, RIDOH is taking this step in alignment with federal partners.
Vaccine eligibility for ages 16 and older People ages 16 and older who live, work, or go to school in Rhode Island are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine. If you are eligible, you can schedule an appointment at a State-run vaccination site by visiting www.vaccinateRI.org starting April 19. People ages 16 – 17 must sign up for Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. For help, call 844-930-1779 or 211. Visit C19vaccineri.org for more information.
COVID-19 Testing Program for Businesses Opens Contact Center Published on Thursday, March 04, 2021 Rhode Island is expanding its COVID-19 Testing Program for Businesses by launching a new COVID-19 Business Testing Contact Center, the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) is announcing today. Through Rhode Island's COVID-19 Testing Program for Businesses, organizations receive regular supplies of BinaxNOW rapid test kits. The new contact center will be staffed with people who are able to provide support to businesses about the testing program over the phone or by email Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. In addition to addressing questions from businesses currently in the program, the COVID-19 Business Testing Contact Center can be used by businesses that are looking to sign up. The Contact Center can be reached at 888-662-4354 or [email protected]. "Signing up for Rhode Island's COVID-19 Testing Program for Businesses is a great way for employers to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace, minimize disruptions to productivity and staffing, and bring some peace of mind to employees," said Director of Health Nicole Alexander-Scott, MD, MPH. "By launching this new COVID-19 Business Testing Contact Center, we're making the experience even easier and more customer friendly." "We are pleased to offer this testing program to our business community," said Rhode Island Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor. "This program enables participating businesses to add an important new element to their COVID safety protocols. We are grateful to our government partners as well as to the businesses that are stepping up and taking part." All Rhode Islanders should consider regular testing for COVID-19, even if they do not have symptoms. Regular testing is particularly important with Rhode Island having identified a more contagious variant of COVID-19 in the state. Even people who have been vaccinated should get tested regularly. BinaxNOW rapid test kits include everything needed to test someone for COVID-19 and get results within 15 minutes. BinaxNOW tests are point of care tests, meaning that results are available on site using the simple supplies in a kit, rather than through a laboratory. Since Rhode Island launched its COVID-19 Testing Program for Businesses in January, nearly 500 employers across the state have signed up to conduct regular testing of their employees, including businesses in real estate, manufacturing, legal services, hospitality, and healthcare. In addition to getting test kits, businesses that sign up will get training on reporting results to RIDOH.
