RI Gets More Monkeypox Vaccine Doses, Schedules Providence Clinics

PROVIDENCE, RI — Gov. Dan McKee and the Rhode Island Department of Health's Monkeypox Task Force announced two new vaccination sites in Providence scheduled for this weekend. Vaccine eligibility is also open for additional "at-risk groups" as the state is expecting more doses this week.

The additional clinics, both in Providence, will be for eligible people who cannot be vaccinated at one of the healthcare facilities that will be vaccinating patients in Rhode Island, according to a news release.

This comes as Rhode Island is receiving additional vaccine doses following a request from McKee made on a recent call with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, officials said. The state expects to receive 900 additional doses this week, and is working to organize more vaccination clinics as more doses become available, officials added.

"While we are making monkeypox vaccine available as soon as it comes into the state, there is still more demand than supply right now in Rhode Island and across the country," said Interim Director of Health Utpala Bandy.

The new community clinics are scheduled at these sites:

• Friday, Aug. 5 – Rhode Island College, Alger Hall (Room 110), 600 Mount Pleasant Ave., Providence, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Saturday, Aug. 6 – Dr. Jorge Alvarez High School, 375 Adelaide Ave., Providence, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Pre-registration is required for these clinics. People who are not pre-registered will not be vaccinated at these clinics.

People can pre-register for these clinics here.

Open Door Health, the Miriam Hospital Infectious Disease Clinic, and Thundermist Health Center have already received limited amounts of monkeypox vaccine.

People being vaccinated in Rhode Island are receiving the two-dose JYNNEOS vaccine series. People who are vaccinated at these community clinics will receive information about where and when to receive their second doses, roughly 28 days later.

"At this time, the risk of monkeypox for most Rhode Islanders continues to be low. However, we are taking this global outbreak very seriously," said McKee. "I want to thank our task force and our local partners on the ground who will be operating clinics and vaccinating individuals. We will also continue to advocate for more vaccine doses so we can meet the demand."

Who Is Eligibile?

According to state officials, the CDC is using a "very specific formula" to allocate monkeypox vaccine to states. Factors taken into consideration include population size, current monkeypox case counts, and historical data on sexually transmitted infections.

To this point, Rhode Island had only been vaccinating people identified as close contacts of someone who has tested positive for monkeypox. After today's announcement, more people are eligible, however.

Rhode Island’s expanded vaccine eligibility now includes residents who are 18 and older who identify as "as gay, bisexual, queer, or who have sex with men and/or transgender individuals," and "have had multiple or anonymous sex partners in the past 30 days."