TIVERTON — Town Administrator Christopher Cotta has released the following statement regarding COVID-19 vaccine availability in town:

The state has an allocation of 4,000 vaccines for distribution on Monday, February 1 

Tiverton has been allocated 60 vaccines. 

The town has fulfilled the allocation for Monday and there is no more available for distribution. Those selected will be given appointments for the second shot on March 1. 

• How were people selected? We used our voter list, special needs list and senior center list to fill the allocation. We do not have a list of every resident in town by age with a valid phone number. Those selected needed to be mobile as the shots are being given at the regional facility in Colt State Park, Bristol. 

• Why weren’t you selected? Tiverton has over 1,850 people registered to vote in the 75-plus age group. This doesn’t count those who decided to stay in Tiverton instead of returning to their regular winter residences. It is an impossible task for your town hall to contact each individual without having your name, age and telephone numbers in one database. We currently do not have the capability to generate such a list. We tried very hard to ensure we selected the eldest known individuals with whom we have contact information for this limited vaccine allocation. 

• When will I be able to get a vaccine? We have not been given any information from the state as to when or how many vaccines will be granted to Tiverton. 

• Will all shots be given at the regional site in Bristol? We do not have that information. Tiverton and Little Compton would prefer to use the Tiverton High School as a vaccine distribution center. Once we are notified when and how many vaccines will be granted and if we can do it here in Tiverton we will advise via our town web pages. 

• What should I do as a Tiverton and Rhode Island resident to register for a shot? We have asked the state to develop a state-wide registry with both phone call in and web base registrations for all Rhode Island residents to register by name, date of birth, address and zip code along with an active return call phone number. We don’t know how, when or if the state will create such a registry but it may be helpful if you call the Governor’s Office at 401-222-2080 

We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding.