For a year now, we’ve known we’re going to get a vaccine… I thought the department would have a plan. And maybe they do, but we haven’t heard it yet.”

Rep. Jason Knight

A member of the House Oversight Committee said on Wednesday, Feb. 3 that the state is on the edge of “a colossal failure” in the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Rep. Jason Knight (D-District 67, Barrington, Warren), who was recently appointed to the Oversight Committee and will serve as chairman of its Subcommittee on Administrative Efficiency, said he has been unable to locate the state’s vaccine distribution plan, and understands why so many people have been frustrated by the situation.

“I am telling you, I have pulled every thread on the sweater to try to find an answer on that subject, and I’m not finding it,” he said, adding that he was hoping officials from the Department of Health might offer some new information during a press conference on Thursday.

“For a year now, we’ve known we’re going to get a vaccine… I thought the department would have a plan. And maybe they do, but we haven’t heard it yet.”

Rep. Knight, a Barrington resident, said the vaccine rollout in Massachusetts has been much better.

As a member of the Oversight Committee, Rep. Knight will be reviewing the operation and efficiency of various state departments and agencies, fulfilling the legislature’s oversight duties. Its new subcommittees will enable the committee to sharpen its focus on key issues.

Rep. Knight said the subcommittee will be reaching out to agencies and asking how the general assembly can help them operate more efficiently and effectively. 

“With any organization, you cannot manage something if you cannot measure it,” Rep. Knight said.

“I hate the phrase ‘Good enough for government work.’ In Rhode Island, I would like to make that not true.”

Rep. Knight, who was selected as a House deputy majority leader, will also serve as the second vice chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. That committee is responsible for considering all bills affecting the penal code, judicial system, ethics, open meetings, access to public records and election laws. Rep. Knight has previously served on the Oversight and Judiciary committees in the past.

In addition, Rep. Knight will be a member of the new State Government and Elections Committee, and will continue to serve as a member of the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee, on which he has served since last year.

Rep. Knight was first elected to the House in 2016.