By Steve Klamkin WPRO News
State-run centers opened Thursday in Providence and Cranston, each can provide hundreds of vaccinations against the coronavirus, but depends upon the amount of vaccine the state receives from the federal government.
At the center at the Dunkin Donuts Center in downtown Providence Monday morning, nurses hired by a private company received last-minute instructions just before the doors were opened to members of the public who had signed up for appointments.
“It was a great deal of work but we’re ready to open the doors and start being a part of the solution, putting needles into arms, and hopefully getting back to some semblance of normalcy,” said Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Edwards, the “point of distribution” commander for the Rhode Island National Guard.
The centers are part of a three-pronged effort that the state Department of Health says is intended to take advantage of three separate distribution channels employed by the federal government to distribute the vaccine, through the state, through cities and towns and through retail pharmacies.
In addition to 14 vaccination stations lining the South wall of the Dunkin Donuts Center along Sabin Street, an inner concourse is lined with chairs as a waiting area. People receiving the shot must wait about 15 minutes to see if there are any adverse reactions.
From the parking garage, to getting the shot, the waiting area and back to the garage was timed, and takes about 28 minutes, said Lt. Col. Edwards.
