Phones have been ringing off the hook at Warren Town Hall since early Thursday, when local officials learned they would soon be receiving 50 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to distribute to elderly residents in town.

"Hundreds" of calls, Warren Town Manager Kate Michaud. "It's been constant."

The doses, which will be given to residents aged 75 and older, are all spoken for, Ms. Michaud said Friday morning. Using a statewide special needs registry, she said her office, and those of Warren Emergency Management Director James Sousa and Warren Senior Center Director Betty Hoague, helped go through the list and contact the oldest Warren residents on it, starting with the oldest and working their way down. The available 50 doses were claimed almost immediately, she said.

Those who signed up will get their shots at the East Bay Regional Vaccination Clinic at the Quinta-Gamelin Center in Bristol, and will return in several weeks to get their booster shots.

For other seniors, the wait for a vaccine may be a bit longer.

Warren got word yesterday that starting the week of February 15, the state will make approximately 70 doses available for distribution each week. To help distribute them, Warren is setting up a contact list that seniors age 75 or older can sign up for if they want the vaccine.

"We do not yet know the procedure yet to register for these doses, but we have started a local list so that we can contact eligible seniors when the appointments become available," she said.  "We'll ask people their name, date of birth and contact information," Ms. Michaud said.

Once those 70 weekly doses start arriving, Ms. Michaud said Warren will likely set up a local vaccination clinic to distribute them. Early thinking is that it will be based at the Kickemuit Village complex on Libby Lane, but if the state delivers more than 70 and a larger site is needed, it could be held somewhere else in town, she said.

To inquire about the contact list, call Ms. Hoague at 247-1930 or e-mail her at bhoague@townofwarren-ri.gov.