We are providing this updated information to Brown students about vaccine eligibility in Rhode Island. Governor McKee and the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) have announced that on Monday 4/12/21 residents of 02906 (Providence) age 16 and older will be eligible to register for vaccination. The press announcement can be viewed at the link provided.

If you live, work or study in Rhode Island, you can get the vaccine here when your age group becomes eligible. The State of Rhode Island has launched a Vaccine Interest Notification List to notify you when you are eligible for vaccination and when a vaccination appointment opens for you. You can register at https://portal.ri.gov/. Please note, our understanding as of this writing is, if you are offered a vaccine that requires 2 doses to be fully vaccinated, both doses will need to be administered in the same state at the appropriate interval.

The Vaccine Interest Notification List is just one way to get an appointment. You can also use the state's website to make an appointment at one of the State-run sites. The State's general vaccination information page also has information about vaccination sites at local pharmacies and cities and towns: https://covid.ri.gov/vaccination

Brown does not currently have direct access to or ability to distribute the vaccine ourselves, but we will continue to monitor availability closely and make information available as we receive it. To prepare to be vaccine-ready, visit healthy.brown.edu/covid-19-vaccination to learn more about the COVID-19 vaccines, and visit care.brown.edu to download digital resources to help spread the word. Share your vaccine story with us at browntakescare@brown.edu if you are comfortable doing so and encourage others to get vaccinated, too. The wider and faster the vaccine is distributed and utilized in the Providence and Rhode Island communities, the sooner more normal operations will return to the Brown University campus.

Getting vaccinated doesn’t just protect you; it also helps protect people around you, especially people who are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

Sincerely,

Tanya Purdy,

Director of BWell Health Promotion; Co-Chair, Healthy Brown Prevention Education Subcommittee, on behalf of the Vaccine Working Group