PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — A top Rhode Island doctor, who’s been working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, now has a front-row seat to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Congressional members received only one ticket this year to bring a guest to the inauguration due to coronavirus restrictions, and Rep. Jim Langevin gave his to Dr. Megan Ranney, a physician at Brown Emergency Medicine.
“Dr. Ranney represents so many extraordinary people in the public health system right now,” Langevin said.
Ranney has had a vital role in Rhode Island’s response to the pandemic. Now in the nation’s capital, she told 12 News security is at an all-time high.
“It is strange, I was actually in New York City during 9/11, and in some ways it feels very similar,” she said. “The security presence is just tremendous, and the streets are empty in a way that I’ve never seen in D.C. before.”
Biden recently announced what he plans to tackle in his first 100 days in office, including passing another COVID relief package and ramping up the nation’s vaccine rollout.
Ranney is hopeful the new administration will bring more vaccine doses to Rhode Island in particular.
“I’m very much looking forward to having us have enough doses,so the general public, our teachers, our elderly, folks with multiple chronic conditions can get protected and we can start to get back to normal,” she said.
Both Langevin and Ranney tell 12 News they feel safe in Washington and they are confident that the inauguration will be a secure event.
