Rhode Island Is First In The U.S. For Fully-Vaxxed Residents

PROVIDENCE, RI — Rhode Island leads the country for its fully vaccinated population, according to the latest data. As of Monday, 80 percent of all Rhode Islanders were fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the highest in the United States.

Gov. Dan McKee said Rhode Islanders "should be proud of the progress we’ve made together."

"This milestone is an encouraging sign for the health of our state and the future of our economic recovery — but we cannot stop here," McKee said. "Our path out of this pandemic depends upon Rhode Islanders getting their boosters and staying up to date with their vaccines — and right now, that is our focus. We currently rank third in the nation for boosters at over 37 percent. We have the momentum to increase that number — let’s keep it going."

When announcing the end of public mask or vaccine requirements last week, Gov. Dan McKee said the state will redouble its efforts to get as many people their vaccine booster as possible, especially students.

Dr. James McDonald, the interim director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, said last week that only having 37 percent of residents boosted was "not enough to see us through" the next stages of the pandemic.

"Severe illness from COVID-19 is now largely preventable because of the primary series vaccines and booster doses that we have available," McDonald said Monday. "The success of Rhode Island’s vaccination campaign is a main reason why our hospitalization rate per case in January did not reach the levels that we saw at prior points in the pandemic. However, COVID-19 is still with us. It is critical that we all remain up to date with our COVID-19 vaccinations. Vaccination is fast, it’s easy, and it’s your best protection against serious illness from COVID-19."

Along with being third in the nation for boosters, Rhode Island is also third for COVID019 vaccines among kids aged 5 to 11.