As of early March, Providence Community Health Centers has been involved in two public vaccination clinics this year, one organized by the city of Providence in late January and another that we ran for our elder­ly patients in February.

This is just the beginning of our vaccination efforts. PCHC is one of the first 250 health centers nationally to be selected to receive ad­ditional vaccine supply directly from the federal gov­ernment.

The February 6^th clinic saw our team vaccinate approximately 90 of our patients -- all 75 or older.

Our team continues to collaborate with our partners at the Rhode Island Department of Health for vaccine sup­plies and guidance regarding the priority populations targeted for immunization. Given our ability to report data by race and ethnicity, that dialogue has very much been a two-way process. PCHC data was instrumental in the state’s decision to expand immunization to lower ages earlier than initially planned.

The Incident Command Team – Kimberly O’Connell, Ralph Chartier, Wendy Chicoine, RN, MSN, PHNA, Dr. Nadine Hewamudalige, and Dr. Andrew Saal – continues to develop and refine our strategy to deliver as many doses as possible as soon as we can. Our vaccination plans include a blend of immunizations in our own neighborhood clinics, along with larger-scale events at a later date in collaboration with our community partners.

As we have done for more than a year, PCHC will play a critical role in caring for the community during this pandemic.