COVID-19 Vaccination

Being “up to date” with your COVID-19 vaccines means getting all recommended doses—including booster doses when you are eligible.  

COVID-19 vaccine recommendations are different for different people and depend on age, health status, and when you were first vaccinated. Please see CDC guidance for more information: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html 

Children can get vaccinated at most places that offer COVID-19 vaccines.  

Many pediatric and family medicine practices are enrolled as providers of COVID-19 vaccine. Contact your child’s healthcare provider to learn if they are vaccinating children.  

Retail pharmacies (e.g., CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Stop & Shop) can vaccinate children age 3 or older. Visit the websites of these pharmacies for more information. Please note that CVS Minute Clinics are not considered pharmacies, but healthcare clinics. CVS Minute Clinics can vaccinate children as young as 18 months.  

To find COVID-19 vaccines near you, visit Vaccines.Gov.  

When making an appointment, make sure that you choose the right vaccine for your child’s age. For example, some vaccines are for children age 6 months through 5 years. Other vaccines are for children age 5 through 11. 

For most people, CDC recommends getting one booster dose after getting your primary series. We are going to keep learning about this virus and its variants and how well our vaccines work against the virus, so this recommendation may change. We know that the protection offered by the virus weakens over time. Booster doses work well to protect people against serious illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19.  

People who are 50 or older and people who are age 12 or older and who have moderately to severely compromised immune systems should get a second booster dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) at least four months after their first booster dose.  

People age 18 or older who got Johnson & Johnson for their primary COVID-19 vaccination and Johnson & Johnson for their first booster dose may choose to get a second booster dose of mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) at least four months after their first booster dose. 

If you have questions about whether a second booster dose is right for you, please speak with a healthcare provider.  

If you have questions about whether a second booster dose is right for you, please talk to a healthcare provider.

Updated 4/26/21

No. COVID-19 vaccines will be provided at no cost. Those who administer vaccines may charge insurance companies a fee for giving the someone the shot, but they will not charge the person being vaccinated.

No matter where you are vaccinated (State-run vaccination site or pharmacy), COVID-19 vaccine providers cannot charge people if COVID-19 vaccination is the only service provided.

No one can be denied vaccination based on healthcare coverage or network. Providers also cannot require additional medical services to get vaccinated.

1. Paper Vaccination Card: When you get vaccinated, you’ll get a vaccination card that tells you which COVID-19 vaccine you got and the date and location of your vaccination. You can use this card as a record of your vaccination.  
2. SMART Health Card through the 401Health App: Rhode Islanders can also get a digital copy of their vaccination card with a QR code on it. When you travel to other states and countries or go to businesses or venues that require proof of vaccination, you can show your record with your QR code. The QR code can be scanned and will prove that your record is authentic. To get this digital record, download the 401Health app. In the app, select “My COVID-19 Vaccine Record.” Next, select “Add a COVID-19 Vaccination Record.” Follow the prompts to download your record.  
3. Portal.ri.gov/VaccineRecord: Rhode Islanders can also get a copy of their COVID-19 vaccine record through portal.ri.gov/VaccineRecord. From this website, you can search for and print proof of your COVID-19 vaccination. Please note that only people who have received their COVID-19 vaccination in Rhode Island will be able to look up their vaccination record online.  

If you are having trouble finding your vaccination record or are not able to go online, you can call 401-222-8022 for help. You can also call your primary care physician to check your vaccine record.

If you need to correct anything in your vaccination record, please fill out and submit the RICAIR COVID-19 Immunization Record Correction Request Form.

Healthcare workers: A healthcare worker is any person who is temporarily or permanently employed by a healthcare facility, or who volunteers in a healthcare facility, or any person who is compensated by a third party that has an agreement with a healthcare facility to provide staffing services, and has or may have direct contact with a patient in that healthcare facility. This may include, but is not limited to physicians, nurses, social workers, technicians, occupational speech therapists, laboratory personnel, dental personnel, pharmacists, students and trainees, contractual staff not employed by the healthcare facility, and persons not directly involved in patient care but who may be exposed to infectious agents (e.g., clerical, housekeeping, laundry, security, maintenance, administrative, billing, and volunteers).    

Healthcare facilities: A healthcare facility is a facility as defined in R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-17-2(9) and includes assisted living residences, as well as adult daycare programs, as defined in R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-1-52 and stations, as defined in R.I. Gen. Laws § 23-16.2-2.

RIDOH-licensed healthcare facilities shall develop the policies, procedures, and/or protocols to comply with the requirements listed in these regulations.  

These healthcare facilities shall also supply NIOSH-approved N95 masks at no financial charge to any healthcare worker.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) require that Medicare- and Medicaid-certified providers, suppliers, and healthcare workers receive the primary series of COVID-19 vaccine (e.g., two doses of Pfizer or Moderna or one dose of Johnson & Johnson) or have an approved exemption. For more information on this regulation, please see Guidance for the Interim Final Rule – Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination at CMS.Gov.   

In addition, to meet the Rhode Island requirement, federally-certified facilities must also ensure that staff wear an N95 mask if they are not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccination (i.e., all recommended doses, including a booster dose when eligible) and the State has greater than or equal to 50 cases per 100,000 people per week. The requirement to wear an N95 applies to those who have an approved exemption under the CMS requirement as well as those who have only had the primary series. 

• Medical exemption form: Exemption forms should be kept in employees’ personnel files. They should not be sent to the Rhode Island Department of Health. 
• Frequently asked questions