Woonsocket-based CVS Health next week will start giving COVID-19 vaccine shots at four of its Rhode Island stores.
The pharmacy giant said in a news release Tuesday that it would start administering doses on Feb. 11 at stores in Westerly, East Greenwich and hometown Woonsocket, as well as a fourth town to be announced. As more doses become available, more locations and appointments will become available, CVS said.
The move comes after the Biden administration announced the federal government would distribute some doses directly through retail pharmacies. Many doses now are routed through the state, and then on to local hospitals or mass vaccinators.
The plan involved another alleged conspirator, Amerlia Holmes, buying the guns from D&L in Warwick, then giving them to Braxton and Gbaie, according to Neronha s office. Braxton sold them to people who couldn’t legally have them; Gbaie also planned to do so, “but fell short” of actually selling any, Neronha’s office said. The scheme dates to August 2020, Neronha said.
Charges against Holmes are still pending, Neronha s office said.
Braxton and Gbaie were both prohibited from having guns because of previous violent crime convictions, Neronha’s office said. When Braxton was arrested by Providence police and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, he had a pistol Holmes had bought for him, Neronha’s office said. ATF agents and Providence police found a pistol under Gbaie’s mattress when they arrested him, Neronha said.
New Providence police major to uplift the voices of our community
The Providence Police Department is adding a new major to the command staff who will focus on community relations and diversion services.
The new position will oversee training and recruitment, and will also start programs to reduce police responses to incidents that are better suited for mental health and counseling support, the city said all part of an effort to build “trust and respect” in Providence The addition of a Community Relations and Diversion Services Major will uplift the voices of our community to the highest levels of leadership within the Providence Police Department, Mayor Jorge Elorza said in a news release Thursday. Over twenty years ago, the Providence Police Department was on the forefront of building relationships with the communities they serve and this new leadership role will continue to build upon and expand that work.
The state on Thursday is expected to announce who will get the next COVID shots in Rhode Island.
A lot of people have asked to be high on the list: In December alone, the state received more than 40 written requests for, or questions about, vaccine prioritization from businesses and interest groups. They ranged from Lyft to First Student, from librarians to foodservice employees, wastewater treatment workers to broadcast journalists.
The interest groups noted their own particular exposure risks in the age of COVID, as well as their importance to the functioning of society as they asked the state for vaccine consideration.