More COVID-19 Testing Available In Barrington Ahead Of Holidays

BARRINGTON, RI — With the Christmas and New Year's holidays just days away, the Rhode Island Department of Health is expanding access to rapid COVID-19 tests, vaccines and booster shots.

Starting Monday, a new testing site will open at Cranston's Chapel View Shopping Center. The site will be open seven days a week, by appointment only. Schedule an appointment online using the Departments of Health's portal. Other new rapid testing sites will open in the coming weeks, the department added.

Asymptomatic Rhode Islanders looking to get tested before the holidays can do so at six existing test sites, including one in Barrington Previously, people without symptoms would only receive a PCR test at these sites. Appointments are still needed to get tested at these locations. They are:

• Barrington Shopping Center
• Blackstone Valley Community Health
• Cranston Parkade Storefront
• Rhode Island Convention Center Ticket Booth
• Smithfield VFW
• Warwick Shopping Plaza

To avoid delays, everyone getting tested is asked to arrive on time for their appointment.

The state also allocated 100,000 COVID-19 self-tests to partners in communities hardest-hit by the pandemic, and is looking to obtain 1 million more.

"While expanding access to rapid tests in advance of the holidays, these measures will also help reduce turnaround times for PCR tests at State-run sites," the department said. "Additionally, the State is currently onboarding additional private laboratories to expand PCR testing capacity."

Testing is also available at certain respiratory clinics, as well as pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens. Find more information about testing on the Department of Health's website.

Although the Department of Health initially announced that the mass vaccine sites in East Providence and Cranston would close before the end of the year, these sites will now remain in operation through at least the end of the month. The department strongly urged all eligible residents aged 16 and older to get a booster dose, and for everyone aged 5 and older to get vaccinated.

According to data collected by the Department of Health, unvaccinated Rhode Islanders are four time more likely to get infected with COVID-19, and 11 times more likely to be hospitalized. Although unvaccinated adults make up a small percentage of the population, two thirds of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 did not get vaccinated.

To those who did receive a COVID-19 vaccine, it's time to get a booster shot if you are eligible, Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, the director of the department, said last week. Early data shows that booster shots are 75 percent effective against the omicron variant.

"The booster doses are necessary now for everyone," Alexander-Scott said. "Getting your booster dose now is the new norm ... the standard now is getting your booster dose."

Read more

• Rhode Island's New Mask, Vaccine Rules: What To Know
  
• Temporary Indoor Mask, Vaccine Rules Announced For Rhode Island
• RI Businesses 'Mixed' About New Mask, Vaccine Rules

Rachel Nunes contributed to this report.