Older Adults Now Able to Receive Additional Dose of Updated COVID-19 Vaccine The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated its COVID-19 vaccine guidance to recommend that people ages 65 and older receive one additional 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine dose at least four months after a previous dose of the 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID-19 Testing in Rhode Island You should get tested for COVID-19 if you have COVID-19 symptoms or have been exposed to someone who has COVID-19. Even if your symptoms are mild and you are up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines, you should get tested and stay home and away from others. It's important to test for COVID-19 so you can take steps to keep yourself and others safe. If you test positive, seek COVID-19 treatment to protect against getting very sick and take steps to prevent spreading illness to others. How can I get tested for COVID-19? There are several ways to get tested for COVID-19 in Rhode Island. Be sure to check with your insurance provider about coverage and any out-of-pocket costs. How to get tested at primary care offices, pharmacies, and clinics Call your primary care provider or child’s pediatrician, local healthcare clinic, or pharmacy to find out if they offer COVID-19 testing or if they can order a test through a laboratory. COVID-19 self-testing at home or anywhere COVID-19 self-tests or at-home tests are available through pharmacies and online retailers. Sometimes a COVID-19 self-test kit is also called an at-home test or an over-the-counter test. People in Rhode Island with Medicaid insurance can get multiple COVID-19 self-tests per month at no cost with a prescription from a healthcare professional. Options for people who don’t have health insurance or COVID-19 testing and treatment coverage Federal programs are available to support access to COVID-19 testing and treatment for people without health insurance or coverage in Rhode Island. Find sites offering no-cost COVID-19 testing using CDC’s Increasing Community Access to Testing (ICATT) program test locator. CDC’s ICATT program offers free COVID-19 laboratory tests. Results are usually available within 24–72 hours. Find sites offering COVID-19 testing and treatment at little or no cost through the Test to Treat program. The Test to Treat program helps people get tested and—if they test positive—be prescribed treatments from a healthcare provider and have their prescription filled all at one location. A call center is also available at 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489) for help in multiple languages. Get free testing and free treatment at home 24/7 through the Home Test to Treat program. The Home Test to Treat program provides access to free COVID-19 and flu telehealth visits and treatment for anyone who tests positive for either condition. Treatment can be shipped to you or picked up at a local pharmacy at no cost for those eligible. If you are uninsured or enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid, Indian Health Service, or VA Healthcare, you can sign up today and get free at-home COVID-19 tests even if you are not currently positive. Regardless of insurance status, anyone with a current positive COVID-19 test may enroll for free telehealth treatment. To learn more and register, visit www.test2treat.org or call 1-800-682-2829.