| The Providence Journal
PROVIDENCE – After months on the sidelines, state lawmakers are seeking a voice over what comes next in Rhode Island’s COVID-19 fight: vaccine distribution.
On Wednesday afternoon, with limited vaccine availability perhaps only weeks away, a 10-member House task force will meet for the first time to talk about where the need is greatest.
Former state Health Director Michael Fine, now the chief health strategist for Central Falls, has been invited in for his perspective from one of the hardest hit areas in the state, where low-wage workers do not have the luxury of working from home via Zoom calls.
The panel has also invited Dr. Ashish K. Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.
Among the lawmakers’ stated goals: to make sure “underserved populations are appropriately addressed” and try to find out more about Rhode Island’s role in a Pfizer pilot distribution program.
Asked by The Journal in recent days if Rhode Island would be ready to begin vaccine distribution by mid-December, Health Department spokesman Joseph Wenelken said, “Yes, the State has been planning for distribution of COVID-19 vaccine for months and will be ready to begin distribution by mid-December if a vaccine is deemed safe and effective and made available to states.”
Asked who would be in charge, Wendelken said, “The Rhode Island Department of Health [RIDOH] convened a mass vaccination workgroup to oversee Rhode Island’s distribution effort…[with] oversight from the Governor’s Office and RIDOH Leadership.”
In mid-November, Pfizer announced that Rhode Island was one of four states chosen for a pilot testing program for a delivery system once a vaccine becomes available.
More: Taking part in Pfizer COVID vaccine pilot is ‘good news’ for RI, says Health Department
More: RI House of Representatives forms COVID vaccine task force
“They are partnering with us to do planning on some of the logistical challenges associated with a large vaccination effort, such as storage, ordering by healthcare providers, data keeping, and temperature maintenance,” Wendelken said at the time of the announcement.
“While this does not mean that we will necessarily get vaccine any earlier than other states, it does mean that we will have a leg up, in terms of planning,” he said.
The governor, meanwhile, pledged in October that any vaccine would be evaluated, before distribution, by a special panel she would appoint that includes epidemiologists, primary-care physicians, pharmacists and pediatricians as well as nonprofit, school and faith leaders.
She said that the panel will also advise on the priorities of vaccine distribution in Rhode Island.
And, once the first dose arrives in the Ocean State, she warned, it may take considerable time for enough people to get vaccinated and to develop immunity to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
“A vaccine is not a silver bullet,” Raimondo said.
The legislative task force was created to make sure that, as the vaccine becomes available, “front-line workers, the health-compromised and the elderly are given access first,” according to the initial mission statement.
Another goal: to make sure “underserved populations are appropriately addressed.”
“The stakes are very high here, and we need to do our absolute best with getting this vaccine to our population as quickly as possible,” said Rep. K. Joseph Shekarchi, the presumptive next House speaker, the day the legislative task force was announced.
There are eight Democrats and two Republicans on the task force, chaired by Rep. Raymond A. Hull , D-Providence, a Providence police officer.
With reports from Journal Staff Writer G. Wayne Miller
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