Melrose School transformed into inoculation hub



Pharmacists from the University of Rhode Island, Steve Cofone, left, and Michael Simeone, fill syringes with the COVID-19 vaccination during the clinic Friday at Melrose School. Fifty of Jamestown’s oldest residents, with an average age of 89 years old, were inoculated with the first of two Moderna doses. PHOTO BY ANDREA VON HOHENLEITEN

Pharmacists from the University of Rhode Island, Steve Cofone, left, and Michael Simeone, fill syringes with the COVID-19 vaccination during the clinic Friday at Melrose School. Fifty of Jamestown’s oldest residents, with an average age of 89 years old, were inoculated with the first of two Moderna doses. PHOTO BY ANDREA VON HOHENLEITEN

The first shots of the highly anticipated coronavirus vaccine to be administered in Jamestown are now in the arms of 50 residents.

That elderly contingency was given its first of two shots of the Moderna vaccine Friday during a clinic at Melrose School. Police Chief Ed Mello, who serves as local director of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency, said the clinic “went very smoothly.”

“The staff there is very well prepared and experienced at getting this done,” he said.

The 50 appointments, which were completed between 3:30-5:30 p.m., were available for residents age 75 or older, and eligibility for the local clinic is solely based on age. Despite the threshold, the first recipients were much older than the cutoff.

“We’re still working with people in their mid-80s and up,” Mello said.

According to Mello, coordination for the vaccination rollout is part of an emergency plan that has been in place for 15 years. It is identical to the annual vaccination clinics to combat the flu.

Police Chief Ed Mello, center, sits at the registration desk during the vaccination clinic Friday at Melrose School flanked by Sally Andretti, left, and Kim Devlin. As local director of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency, he is in charge of the operation.

Police Chief Ed Mello, center, sits at the registration desk during the vaccination clinic Friday at Melrose School flanked by Sally Andretti, left, and Kim Devlin. As local director of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency, he is in charge of the operation.

Mello said there was no wait time for patients, in most cases, after they arrived at the school. The clinic is on the main floor, and when the patients arrived, their appointments were confirmed and then they are asked medical questions about reactions to other shots. After that, their vaccines were administered by one of two nurses at a vaccination station.

“The overall process requires that we have medical oversight,” Mello said. “It has to be a prescribing medical professional.”

In addition to the medical personnel giving the shots, two medical doctors and two pharmacists were present during the clinics. Masks were required inside the school. Once the vaccines were administered, each patient had to wait in an observation area for 20 minutes to ensure there were no adverse reactions to the shot. While waiting in that area, the staff would schedule a second appointment for the final dose of the vaccine. To be fully effective, patients must receive two doses within a month.

Local emergency medical technician, Eliza Chase, was one of the workers who volunteered her time to vaccinate Jamestown’s oldest residents.

Local emergency medical technician, Eliza Chase, was one of the workers who volunteered her time to vaccinate Jamestown’s oldest residents.

The next three clinics will be Feb. 26, March 5 and March 12 at the elementary school. The clinics are by appointment only, and the 150 slot appointments already have been filled. The patients who received their shots Friday will return for their second dose March 19.

“Right now, the state has only allocated four weeks’ worth of vaccines for us,” Mello said.

Beyond March 12, Mello said there currently are no new clinic dates scheduled. Jamestown residents, however, should enroll on the waitlist through the town’s website to secure their shot when it reaches their appropriate age group. If everything has gone according to plan, at least one dose of the vaccine should already be in the arms of Jamestown’s 80 oldest residents. Although Friday marked the first 50 shots administered at the local level, 30 residents already had received doses through a regional clinic in South Kingstown in January.

Nurse Rebecca Minus gives a shot to one of the 50 patients. PHOTO BY ANDREA VON HOHENLEITEN

Nurse Rebecca Minus gives a shot to one of the 50 patients. PHOTO BY ANDREA VON HOHENLEITEN

“It’s all about making that vaccine available to our residents in the most convenient manner in a local setting,” Mello said. “That’s what we’re trying to achieve.”

The COVID-19 pandemic reached Rhode Island in March 2020 after two people were diagnosed with the virus after returning to the United States from a St. Raphael Academy trip to Italy. The first local case was detected March 24, and in the year since then, there have been 287 more cases in Jamestown. At least one resident has died of the virus, although the total number of local fatalities is fewer than five.

The Moderna vaccine, which is being used in the Jamestown clinics, was given an emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2020. It is one of two such vaccines to receive authorization. The other was developed by the American company Pfizer and the German company BioNTech. Both vaccines have demonstrated efficacy rates as high as 95 percent in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infections, and they are the fastest vaccines to be created in human history.

In addition to the local program, the state has opened mass vaccination sites for Rhode Island residents who are 65 and older. Jamestown residents also can try and receive vaccinations through CVS and Walgreens pharmacies.