U.S. Sen. Jack Reed says Rhode Island's health department will receive $11.3 million in federal funding over five years for immunization and vaccine programs for children.
The Rhode Island Democrat says the state should expect to get nearly $2.3 million of that funding this year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Reed says the federal money will be used to improve immunization levels and help eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases among children in Rhode Island.
The funding can be used so that health care providers can vaccinate uninsured children, underinsured children and children on Medicaid at no cost to their family.
Reed says Rhode Island isn't immune from the threat of a measles outbreak, but its high vaccination rate of young people is the best line of defense.
