NOTE: Gov. McKee’s office clarified the vaccine app is not a passport or requirement.
LINCOLN, R.I. (WPRI) — Rhode Islanders soon won’t have to carry around cards to show they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19 thanks to a new smartphone app announced Wednesday by Gov. Dan McKee.
The state is not launching a passport program, McKee said, but instead has submitted a “smart card” app that standardizes vaccine records.
R.I. Department of Health spokesperson Joseph Wendelken says the state’s Crush COVID app is being into a more comprehensive health app, and will be similar to portal.ri.gov.
The app, which state officials say may be named 401 Health, aims to make it easier to show proof of vaccination in locations that require it. Use of the app is not mandatory, however.
“We are going to make it available as a convenience for people who want to use it. You can call it what you want,” McKee said during a scheduled news briefing.
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Tom McCarthy, director of the state’s COVID-19 response, said the app is currently being tested and may become available within a few weeks.
McKee and R.I. Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott also addressed the omicron variant, which has become the latest variant of concern worldwide.
The omicron has not yet been detected in Rhode Island, according to McKee, but the state health lab is in the process of sequencing positive PCR tests to screen for the variant.
Alexander-Scott said almost all cases in Rhode Island are still from the delta variant, but the state is tracking the omicron closely.
Because of the new variant, as well as people spending more time indoors and gathering for the holidays, state leaders continued to urge people to get vaccinated or get a booster dose.
“Like everyone in Rhode Island, families with children still need to be vigilant. The best step in terms of the vigilance is getting vaccinated,” Alexander-Scott said.
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McKee said as of Wednesday, 73.5% of Rhode Island’s population was fully vaccinated and nearly 83% was at least partially vaccinated.
“We continue to lead the nation in testing and in vaccinations,” he added. “I think the last report I saw was that we were second in the country, about 2,000 shots away from being first.”
Nearly 20,000 children ages 5 to 11 have been vaccinated, McKee said, with more than half getting their shot at school-based clinics.
According to Alexander-Scott, the state is seeing an increase in cases across the board, but notably in children. She said between Halloween and Thanksgiving, the positive case rate has doubled for the 5-9 age group and tripled for the 10-14 age group.
“Please, let’s make sure that our children go get vaccinated,” Alexander-Scott said. “There are roughly 200,000 children in Rhode Island, and most of them are still not vaccinated yet. That’s the number that we want to focus on addressing.”
More vaccine and booster clinics will be held this month for everyone, especially for children 5-11, according to Alexander-Scott.
COVID-19 Tracking: Maps, Charts, Interactive Data »
On Wednesday, the Health Department reported 861 new positive cases — the most in a single day since Jan. 21.
Three more Rhode Islanders died after contracting COVID-19, according to health officials, and hospitalizations climbed to 169, with 19 patients in the ICU and 13 on ventilators.
The data also showed the rate of community transmission increased to 377 new cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days. Any state with a rate of 100 or more is considered to have high transmission of the virus.
Alexander-Scott said that while the vaccine is the best tool to prevent serious illness, it’s also important to get tested, wear a mask, wash your hands regularly, and maintain a safe distance between others in public.
Only about 20% of Rhode Islanders say they wear a mask in public where it’s not required, according to McKee. The governor said he hopes to see that number increase as we head into winter.
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Officials also provided an update on the state’s “test-and-stay” program, which is designed to prevent students from missing class due to quarantine. McKee said the pilot program, where students who are identified as close contacts can take rapid antigen tests on a daily basis, was a success in Westerly.
According to the district’s superintendent, they were able to save around 315 school days through the program.
Ana Riley, deputy commissioner for instructional programs at the R.I. Department of Education, said the program also kept kids safe.
“There were zero instances of tertiary transmission, meaning that no one tested positive following exposure to a test-to-stay positive contact,” Riley said.
Westerly parents and teachers were surveyed following the pilot, and McKee said roughly 97% of respondents thought the program was a great asset.
The program will now be made available to any school district in the state that’s interested.