‘We need it down here’: Newport races to vaccinate Latino residents Published Tue Apr 27 2021 09:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) Newport now has one of the highest rates of new COVID-19 cases in the state, with a particularly worrying uptick in the Hispanic and Latino community. City officials and community groups are racing to get vaccines in the arms of high-risk residents, who some worry weren’t adequately prioritized by the state’s early vaccination strategy. by Antonia Ayres-Brown
Just before lunchtime on Wednesday, a line had formed outside the Gateway Visitors Center in Newport. A mother waited with two children. Another man walked up dressed for work, in safety boots and cargo pants. They were all there to get vaccinated at a pop-up clinic for residents of color.
Newport Daily News
NEWPORT The joint vaccination center for Newport and Middletown residents over the age of 75 opened for the first time Saturday morning at the Community College of Rhode Island campus.
The clinic originally was scheduled for Friday, but the snowstorm postponed the opening.
Many of the 300 people who arrived for their scheduled appointments between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Southern Aquidneck Island Vaccination Center praised how well organized the clinic was.
“It’s a community effort,” said Newport Deputy Fire Chief Harp Donnelly, the MedPOD commander. POD is an acronym for “point of distribution.”
Present were 20 Newport and Middletown firefighters and police officers, as well as 43 volunteers, Donnelly said.
Newport Daily News
NEWPORT By 12:15 p.m. on the second Thursday of the first-come, first-serve rapid COVID testing program at the Edward King House Senior Center, the line for testing stretched down King Street. People lined the sidewalk leading to the house, some more socially distanced than others, well past the Pop Flack public tennis courts.
The center expected around 400 people to get tested that day, Jan. 14. Since most people come from word-of-mouth recommendation, First Lt. Andrew Donnelly of the Rhode Island National Guard and Carmela Geer, who ran the operation, said there has been some confusion surrounding the process, leading some to be concerned about getting tested.
Newport Daily News
NEWPORT As students return to in-person learning, the superintendent of Newport Public Schools provided an update Wednesday on asymptomatic testing for students and staff.
There will be a one-day asymptomatic testing event on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at Pell Elementary School, Colleen Burns Jermain said in a letter to the school community. Consent letters were distributed and families that wish to have their students tested must complete and return a consent letter to Pell Elementary School no later than Friday, Jan. 15.
“Tests will be administered during school hours to those students with signed consent forms or after school hours by appointment if you would like to accompany your child while he/she is being tested,” Jermain said in the letter.”This is the PCR test and testing is only available to students and staff and not family members at this time.”
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Two rapid coronavirus test sites are open in Newport. (Matthew Horwood/Getty Images)
NEWPORT, RI Aquidneck Island residents looking for a rapid coronavirus test have two options available in Newport. The walk-in sites offer no-cost tests to residents, with results available in 15 minutes.
The two sites, operated by the Rhode Island Department of Health, opened last week. Appointments are not required. The first, at Edward King House Senior Center on King Street, operates from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays. The second is at the Community Baptist Church Annex on Dr. Marcus Wheatland Boulevard, open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.