Gov. Dan McKee visit an employee vaccination clinic set up at Electric Boat in North Kingstown

Rhode Island will soon receive an unexpected surplus of COVID-19 vaccine doses, which Gov. Dan McKee said is part of his plan to further expand the state’s distribution strategy.

Rhode Island could receive an additional 50,000 doses on top of what the state is already receiving from the federal government, said McKee.

The state is currently offering to set up clinics at schools, businesses and nonprofit organizations who are willing to host them.

Electric Boat is one of the first businesses in Rhode Island to accept the offer, opening an employee vaccination clinic early Wednesday morning.

“The pick-and-shovel work has started,” McKee said. “That’s going to get us to the finish line.”

Electric Boat’s goal is for all of their workers to get vaccinated either at work or somewhere else. 1,300 shots were available Wednesday.

The governor hopes to see more clinics like the one at Electric Boat.

Electric Boat General Manager Sean Davies said the demand for vaccines among his employees is there, and hundreds of shots have already been administered.

“I think there’s a general interest in folks across the board,” he said.

Davies said Electric Boat typically offers a flu shot clinic to its employees annually, and anywhere between 70% and 80% of their company normally participates.

“I would imagine numbers would be somewhere similar to that,” he said of the COVID-19 vaccine clinic.