💉 53 percent of Rhode Island’s K-12 students are vaccinated

Hardy Wu, 5, was comforted by his mother, Jun Tao, and EMT Cesar Reynoso after he received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11 in Cranston, R.I., last November.David Goldman/Associated Press

Happy Wednesday! I’m Dan McGowan and I hope “King Richard” wins the Oscar for best picture. Follow me on Twitter @DanMcGowan or send tips to [e-mail].

Coronavirus updates

Rhode Island has a high level of transmission: 461.9 total new cases per 100K population in the past 7 days

Vaccinated with two shots: 838,082 (of about 1.1 million residents)

New cases: 418

Test-positive rate: 5.7 percent

Currently hospitalized: 288

Total deaths: 3,365

More stats from the R.I. Department of Health

Globe Rhode Island COVID-19 news and resources

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Leading off

We’re expected to learn this afternoon about Governor Dan McKee’s plan for masks in schools for the rest of the year, but it’s still unclear how the state is going to improve COVID-19 vaccination rates among students in grades K-12.

As of Jan. 29, 53 percent of students who were eligible for the shot were at least partially vaccinated, according to data from the Rhode Island Department of Health.

You can look up your child’s school’s vaccination rate here.

Only three school districts reported that at least 80 percent of students are vaccinated: Jamestown (85 percent), Barrington (83 percent), and East Greenwich (82 percent).

Meanwhile, in Providence, the state’s largest school district, only 40 percent of students were vaccinated. Central Falls was also at 40 percent. The vaccination rates were even lower in Pawtucket (38 percent) and Woonsocket (36 percent).

McKee has been announcing community-based vaccination clinics in cities and towns across the state almost every day for the last several weeks, but some lawmakers have expressed concern that there hasn’t been enough of a campaign to urge students to get vaccinated.

Students ages 5 to 11 have been eligible for the vaccine since Nov. 3, 2021, while everyone over the age of 12 has been eligible since May 10, 2021.

McKee’s press conference is at 1:30 p.m.

The Globe in Rhode Island

⚓ Ashley Kalus, a Republican who bought a house in Newport last year and registered to vote in Rhode Island last month, has opened a campaign account to run for governor. She’s an executive at Doctors Test Centers. Read more.

⚓ The Australian museum that says it has identified the remains of Captain James Cook’s ship, the Endeavour, in Newport Harbor released the report that it says backs up its claim. Read more.

⚓ With the state budget surplus topping $618 million, the Senate Republican caucus is calling for elimination of the state gas tax in 2022. Read more.

⚓ Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Obie-award winning play “An Octoroon,” at the Gamm Theatre through Feb. 20, pokes at sensibilities, pries at prejudices, and pushes at closed gates in a person’s mind. Read more.

Also in the Globe

⚓ How will Boston bounce back from COVID-19? Read more.

⚓ Sixteen years after a disastrous decision cost her an Olympic gold medal, American snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis finally has her hands on the elusive prize. Read more.

⚓ The Celtics could be buyers before tomorrow’s trade deadline. Read more.

What’s on tap today

E-mail events to us at [e-mail].

⚓ Birthdays: Rhode Map readers, if you want a friend or family member to be recognized on Friday, send me an e-mail with their first and last name, and their age.

⚓ Governor McKee will hold his regular COVID-19 press conference at 1:30 p.m.

⚓ The Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council meets at 10:30 a.m.

⚓ The House Education Committee meets at 3 p.m. Here’s the agenda.

My previous column

What more does Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza have to do to convince state leaders to take the city’s pension problems seriously? If you missed the column, you can read it here. And all of my columns are on our Rhode Island Commentary page.

Rhode Island Report podcast

Ed Fitzpatrick talks to former CVS executive Helena Foulkes about her campaign for governor. Listen to all of our podcasts here.

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Thanks for reading. Send comments and suggestions to [e-mail], or follow me on Twitter @DanMcGowan. See you tomorrow.

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