LINCOLN, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island country club that usually hosts elaborate weddings is now hosting coronavirus vaccination clinics for the intellectually and developmentally disabled and their caretakers.
About 750 people were inoculated Thursday during the latest clinic at the Kirkbrae Country Club in Lincoln. Two more clinics are scheduled for next week, officials said.
They are organized by the Community Provider Network of Rhode Island, a nonprofit group for care providers.
The clinic, the only one of its kind in Rhode Island, is an all-volunteer all operation, said Executive Director Tina Spears.
The country club offers the space, the Lincoln Police Department provides security and traffic control, and the Rhode Island Disaster Medical Assistance Team’s Medical Reserve Corps Program provides volunteer doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to administer the vaccine.
The intellectually and developmentally disabled, of which there are about 4,000 in Rhode Island. are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 as many have other underlying health issues and live in congregate care environments, officials said.
Michael Andrade, president of the providers association board, said many peope with intellectual and developmental disabilities don’t understand the pandemic and why their normal lives have been upended.
“Many of them just want to see their friends,” Andrade said.
