Prospective students interested in taking classes at the Community College of Rhode Island can get enrolled and get vaccinated at the same time.
The event scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at the school’s Warwick campus will offer those interested in attending CCRI the opportunity to apply for free, receive assistance with filing for financial aid, schedule or take the placement exam, and register for classes, the college said in a statement.
The pop-up, walk-in COVID-19 vaccine clinic is free for prospective students and their families. The clinic will be administering the Pfizer vaccine, which is approved for those 12 years of age or older.
Class of 2021 high school graduates can also learn about the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship program, which provides two years of free tuition for full-time students who attend CCRI the semester after graduating high school.
CCRI has campuses in Warwick, Lincoln, Providence and Newport and a satellite education center in Westerly.
In other pandemic-related news around the region:
MAINE
A community’s level of support for former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election correlates to vaccination levels, a newspaper reported.
A statistical analysis in Penobscot County showed communities’ support for Trump was the strongest predictor of low vaccination rates, the Bangor Daily News reported.
Some residents of towns with low vaccination rates voiced distrust in the science behind the vaccines or said they disliked vaccines in general.
Pam Carmichael, of Greenbush, said she doesn’t see any reason to get vaccinated because she doesn’t live in an urban area like New York City. “Out here, I don’t use a bus or a taxi or subway,” said Carmichael, 70. “It’s not close like the big cities,” she said.
In Greenbush, 45% of residents had received a vaccine dose as of June 14, giving it one of the lowest rates in Penobscot County. Nearly 65% of the state’s population is fully vaccinated.
MASSACHUSETTS
Coronavirus rates are at all-time lows and every community in the state is now out of the “red” and “yellow” risk categories for transmission of COVID-19, according to weekly data released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
All told, 23 Massachusetts communities were in the state’s “green” category, which usually means 15 or less total COVID-19 cases. More than 300 communities were in the state’s “gray” category, which means 10 or less COVID-19 cases for most smaller communities.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Massachusetts has declined over the past two weeks, going from 166 new cases per day on June 3 to 79 new cases per day on June 17. That compares to about 6,000 cases per day in January.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Enhanced unemployment benefits came to an end Saturday in New Hampshire.
Gov. Chris Sununu eliminated the $300 weekly federal payment ahead of the program’s national expiration in September. In its place, stipends are being offered to encourage people to return to work.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime type of market that we see right now, with the incentives that are being offered, so really, there’s no reason to not get out there and find that job that you’ve been looking for,” said Richard Lavers, deputy commissioner of employment security.
The stipend announced last month offers a $1,000 bonus for full-time jobs and $500 for part-time jobs after working for eight weeks.
VERMONT
The University of Vermont Health Network is winding down mass vaccination sites that helped the state reach its goal of 80% of eligible residents being vaccinated.
The Champlain Valley Fairgrounds seemed like a ghost town Friday after the car carrying the last vaccine recipient exited the Champlain Expo in Essex Junction, WCAX-TV reported.
The mass clinic at Porter Hospital in Middlebury closed last week and the clinic at the former JCPenney in Berlin will close next week.
Between the three facilities, the state administered more than 115,000 doses.
In coming months, UVM will continue to play a role at smaller, walk-in clinics. Vermonters can also get vaccinated in their primary doctors’ offices.
