Tiverton and Little Compton have among the lowest rates of vaccination against the COVID-19 virus in the state, despite efforts to host local vaccination clinics across the Sakonnet area.

According to statistics from the R.I. Department of Health (RIDOH) updated this week, 47.3 percent of Tiverton residents over the age of 12, and 54.6 percent of Little Compton residents in the same age bracket, are fully vaccinated. That puts Tiverton 38th in the state, second to last behind only Woonsocket. Little Compton ranks 33rd in the state.

Statewide, 78 percent of the the over 12 population is fully vaccinated.

Rep. Michelle McGaw, who represents District 71 in Little Compton, Tiverton and Portsmouth, said she wishes she had a better handle on all the factors keeping the area's numbers so low. But she said Tuesday that access has long been an issue in the area, which is more isolated than many other parts of the state.

"In the beginning, there weren't any vaccination clinics in Little Compton, for example," she said. When (the state) created clinics statewide, I was specifically looking for them closer to that area."
At the same time, the state's system for testing made it difficult for residents, particularly in Little Compton. When the first testing sites opened, residents' only choice here was to drive to Newport and back — a 50-mile roundtrip.

"It definitely made it more challenging," she said.
Still, she said she is hopeful that town-based vaccination clinics, which are being run locally on an ongoing basis, will improve the area's low numbers.

Little Compton, which last hosted a vaccination clinic Thursday, August 19 at the Wilbur-McMahon School, will host another at the same location. It is scheduled to run from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 9.

In Tiverton, the last public clinic held was Friday, August 20. Another will run fro 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10 at Tiverton High School.