Latest Alerts & Guidance

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now offers a quarantine and isolation calculator to help determine how long you need to isolate, quarantine, or take other steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Rhode Island Department of Health is implementing a new COVID-19 risk assessment based on updated guidance from CDC. The guidance measures risk on a county by county basis. Four of Rhode Island’s counties are currently considered high-risk areas. For more information, please visit CDC’s web page COVID-19 Community Levels.

To search for your county, use the COVID-19 County Check tool.

If you test positive for COVID-19, are age 12 or older, and have mild to moderate symptoms, call your healthcare provider right away and ask about treatment. Treatment is most important if you are at high risk of becoming very sick from COVID-19. The earlier you start treatment, the more effective it is.

The most effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to protect against severe illness, hospitalization, and death is to stay up to date with your COVID-19 vaccinations. Rhode Island regulations (216-RICR-20-15-7) require that healthcare workers or assisted living residence workers shall be up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines, meaning a person has received all recommended doses of COVID-19—including a booster dose when eligible—or wear a National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH)-approved N95 mask while working in healthcare facilities during a period in which the COVID-19 prevalence rate in the State is greater than or equal to 50 cases per 100,000 people per week. 

For more information, please visit this page (covid.ri.gov/vaxrequirement).

Third doses of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are available to certain Rhode Islanders who are moderately to severely immunocompromised.

If you are eligible, you can get your third dose at any of the places where vaccine is currently available.

Eligible people should get their third dose at least 28 days after their second dose of either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.

For more information on getting a third dose, visit COVID-19 Vaccine FAQs.

Everyone age 5 or older who has already received a primary series of COVID-19 vaccine should get a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine.    

Some people should get two booster doses. People age 50 or older and people age 12 or older who have moderately to severely compromised immune systems should get a second booster dose at least four months after their first booster dose.      

For more recommendations and information, visit covid.ri.gov/boosterdoses.

For CDC COVID-19 booster dose guidelines, visit CDC's booster web page. 

COVID-19 vaccine recommendations are different depending on your age, health status, and when you were first vaccinated. If you have questions about your vaccination schedule, please speak with a healthcare provider. 

For the best protection against COVID-19 and its variants, stay up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines. Being “up to date” with your COVID-19 vaccines means that you have received all recommended COVID-19 vaccines, including booster doses when eligible. COVID-19 vaccine recommendations are different for different people and depend on age, health status, and when you were first vaccinated. Please see CDC guidance for more information: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/stay-up-to-date.html   

Many Rhode Islanders living in specific geographies have experienced higher rates of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths throughout the pandemic. Such differences are directly connected to the social conditions in which some communities of color are more likely to live and work every day, and to systems of structural racism and discrimination that have historically undermined the health and well-being of these communities. 

RIDOH believes reaching high vaccination rates across all individuals and communities regardless of ZIP code is key to saving lives and achieving broader population immunity. Learn about Rhode Island's Hard-Hit Community Vaccination Strategy.

Monday – Friday: 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM

Phone: 401-222-8022

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