Another Look: R.I. health officials explore vaccine incentives

on May 27. The legislation would also be an entrepreneurial model, which would impose a 22% tax, including a 5% tax for cities and towns that allow recreational-cannabis sales.

Miller’s legislation seeks a 20% tax that includes a 7% sales tax, 10% special tax and a 3% tax for municipalities that allow cannabis sales.

McKee’s plan calls for a 17% tax, which includes the state’s 7% sales tax and a special 10% excise tax. There is no tax for cities and towns.

Slater’s legislation would set aside five of 15 initial retail licenses geared toward social equity applicants, curbing other retailers from opening until 2025, while allowing for cities and towns to prohibit the sale of adult-use marijuana.

Miller said he did not know the specifics of Slater’s legislation, so it is not known what kind of hurdles it presents to unifying all three pieces of proposed legislation.

Miller also said he has not spoken to House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi about the legislation. Shekarchi has said there are other priorities to address and passage of marijuana legislation was not urgent for this legislative year.

“I have a different attitude,” said Miller. “If we don’t [pass] it, we are missing a real opportunity because the longer this takes, the more people will potentially establish a relationship with the black market or with a Massachusetts retailer.” n (Editor’s note: A version of this story was first published on PBN.com on June 8.)

PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Health has a working group that is looking at incentives to persuade people to get vaccinated, according to health officials who spoke at the COVID-19 vaccine committee meeting on June 8.

The state, so far, has not offered any financial or promotional incentives, as many other states have done.

Earlier in June, Tom McCarthy, the R.I. Department of Health’s COVID-19 executive director, said a cash lottery was not something Rhode Islanders wanted.

California, New York and Ohio, among other states, have offered a chance at lottery cash as incentive for people who are newly vaccinated. “In Rhode Island, what we’ve heard loud and clear is they don’t need to be paid to do that,” McCarthy said.

But on June 8, Tricia Washburn, the department’s immunization leader, said the state has a working group that is examining what incentives have worked well in other states and what hasn’t.

The National Governors Association has a list by state that includes incentives such as gift cards, event tickets and cash payments. In Maine, the state is giving away hunting and fishing licenses and free access to parks. In New York, Yankees and Mets tickets are being given to newly vaccinated individuals.

Rhode Island is looking at the options, Washburn said.

“We are exploring incentives,” she said. “From

R.I. health officials explore vaccine incentives

BY MARY MACDONALD | MacDonald@PBN.com

incentives in terms of working with businesses to assess what types of incentives they would be willing to implement, all the way to monetary incentives, providing for those who get a first dose or complete a vaccination.”

Gift cards and tickets to events are among the options, she said.

The backdrop is continued hesitancy among some Rhode Islanders to getting vaccinated. While the state has had success in inoculating a large proportion of its population, it still has areas where people are getting fewer vaccines.

On June 8, the state released a list of “cold spots” for vaccines in Rhode Island, in which fewer than 50% of the adult residents have received the vaccines. The spots include seven neighborhoods in Providence, the Darlington area of Pawtucket and all of Woonsocket.

Overall, the pace of vaccinations is slowing, particularly among older teens, according to health officials.

The fastest pace is now among the 12- to 15-yearolds, who were first approved for the Pfizer vaccine a month ago. That age group now has almost 37% vaccinated with a first shot, according to the updated statistics.

As of June 7, 89% of Rhode Islanders 55 and older were vaccinated with at least one dose.

Sixty-seven percent or more of Rhode Islanders between age 35 and 54 have had vaccines. Fifty-two to 55% of residents age 16 to 34 have received at least one dose. n