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2/3/2021
Maureen and Vincent Marcantonio, of North Smithfield, were two of many in line to be vaccinated for COVID-19 last Saturday at Smithfield High School after the state released a limited amount of vaccines for residents age 75 and older. The couple said they will be happy to see their children and grandchildren and go back to church when it’s safe to do so. (Breeze photo by Charles Lawrence)
NORTH SMITHFIELD – After a busy weekend, North Smithfield town officials are preparing a mass vaccination effort for residents age 75 and older, which state officials have said will begin in earnest around Feb. 14.
Town Administrator Paul Zwolenski told The Breeze on Monday the state has indicated they’ll start receiving a weekly allotment of vaccine doses in “mid- to late February.” Those doses will initially be distributed to residents age 75 and older before the program expands to include residents ages 65 to 74.
“We’ve been promised 80 of them a week,” he said, noting the information from state health officials could change.
The town is currently planning to partner with the city of Woonsocket to distribute vaccines to residents of both municipalities at the former Monsignor Gadoury School on Park Avenue. The building, located close to the town line, does not currently house any students and had been targeted by Woonsocket officials as an ideal place to distribute vaccines.
Zwolenski said the two communities will share a location and volunteers but will keep careful track of each municipality’s vaccine doses to ensure the individual allotments go to residents from that community.
“It won’t matter what town or city you’re from, the only thing that will matter is the vaccine comes out of Woonsocket inventory or North Smithfield inventory,” he said. “So that’s how it’s going to work. It’s going to be a joint effort, so we’ll use the trained personnel.”
The news comes after a busy week when a last-minute release of about 5,000 vaccine doses from the Rhode Island Department of Health had local officials scrambling to distribute those doses to residents age 75 and older statewide.
Zwolenski and Fire Chief David Chartier said North Smithfield learned last Tuesday they’d be receiving a limited amount of vaccine doses reserved for residents age 75 and older later in the week. Beginning Wednesday, town employees and EMA personnel began calling residents to line up recipients for the 60 doses. Zwolenski said he reached out to former Town Administrator and senior services professional Linda Thibault to help secure recipients, while EMA Director Peter Branconnier contacted residents at Deerfield Commons and Colonial Village.
The slots quickly filled up, and those who secured a spot received their first dose of the vaccine at the Smithfield regional pod over the weekend.
The last-minute nature of the vaccine rollout drew criticism from some local officials around the state, many of whom were bombarded with calls from eager residents as soon as news got out about the limited release.
Chartier said the town is working on its logistical plan for what’s expected to be a much larger rollout when the state releases additional vaccines later in the month. He said the town is working to put together some kind of sign-up system for residents who qualify and plans to release more information to local media as it becomes available. “We’re going to do the best we can, with what we’ve got available,” he said.
In the meantime, Zwolenski said residents with questions or who want to leave their information on file can call town hall and dial the EMA extension at 401-767-2200, ext. 510. Volunteers and employees, he said, have received hundreds of phone calls and are compiling a waiting list of residents to receive the vaccine.
The state has not yet begun distributing vaccines to residents ages 65 to 74. State officials have said those distributions are expected to begin around late February.
