NY Times Ranks RI #1 for New Coronavirus Cases, More Confusion with Vaccination Program

NY Times Ranks RI #1 for New Coronavirus Cases, More Confusion with Vaccination Program

Rhode Island is now suffering a record number of coronavirus cases according to new data provided by Covid ActNow.

Rhode Island has now hit its highest level of infection — 130 cases per 100,000. The previous high mark was December 9 when the state recorded 123 cases per 100,000.

 

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The New York Times now ranks Rhode Island as having the highest number of new cases in the United States.

Rhode Island per capita now has the fourth highest number of deaths per 100,000 residents in the U.S. — now trailing just New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.

The trends are especially disturbing as the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) struggles to vaccinate Rhode Islanders and manage data.

 

Vaccination Data Issues

The CDC reports that Rhode Island has received 72,175 doses and has utilized 30,264 doses -- 42% of the vaccine has been used.

RIDOH's dashboard on vaccination provides outdated data that states Rhode Island has received 42,050 and 31,541 doses have been administered.  SEE DASHBOARD HERE

In questions to RIDOH, the Deaprtment confirms that as of Monday, the state has received over 72,000 doses. 

Dr. Jonathna Reiner of George Washington University on Monday in an interview on CNN called for states to implement mass vaccination events and "get rid of the prioritization system."

Part of the confusion is that the RIDOH is only reporting a portion of the vaccine it has received.

"The data in the table online excludes doses ordered by CVS and Walgreens from CDC to vaccinate in nursing homes. This is indicated in a note in the table. While we know how many doses have been allocated to the pharmacies to vaccinate in nursing homes, we don’t know how much the pharmacies have ordered. The CDC is updating their system so states have access to data on how much vaccine the pharmacies have ordered," said Joseph Wendelken, spokesperson for the RIDOH.