A 103-year-old woman on Monday became the first resident of a New Jersey nursing home to receive a coronavirus vaccine.
Mildred Clements was shot shortly after 9 am, when Governor Phil Murphy and the state’s chief health officer were there to witness the event at the Roosevelt Service Center in Old Bridge.
“We went through some dark times together,” said Murphy, “but the light is beginning to appear on the horizon.”
Roosevelt is one of about 90 long-term health facilities across the state with scheduled vaccinations throughout the week, and Clements was the first of more than 83,000 residents to receive the vaccine by early February, according to management Murphy.
Applause and cheers sounded inside a tent where vaccines were being administered on Monday.
“Mildred, we are starting a new road now,” said Bentzy Davidowitz, administrator of the long-term care center, on the applause.
Esther Moodey, the unit’s nurse, was the second person to receive the vaccine. She said she felt “normal” after receiving the injection in her left arm and asked everyone eligible to receive it.
“During the first wave of this pandemic, we fought exhaustion (and) uncertainty,” said Moodey, who worked at the site for 14 years after receiving the vaccine.
“All these months later, we continue to work tirelessly to protect and care for our vulnerable residents,” she said. “I am honored to be the first member of the team.”
Chief nurse Esther Moodey receives the vaccine from CVS pharmacist James Kee. Residents and staff receive vaccination for Covid-19 at Roosevelt Care Center in Old Bridge, NJ, December 28, 2020 Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media forEd Murray | NJ Advance Media for
Staten Island native Rosemary Connelly, 92, said she was excited to receive the injection because it meant she could see her family soon, including her daughter, who has been visiting her every day since she arrived in 2018, but was unable to visit it since then March.
“It is a very good injection,” she told the CVS pharmacist who administered the Pfizer vaccine. “I recommend it to everyone.”
Although the shots were fired with great fanfare, they arrived a week later than they could have, after the state missed the federal deadline to file the paperwork in one day. The error means that other states – including New York and Connecticut – are a week ahead of New Jersey in vaccinating employees and residents in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
The authorities partially blamed the federal government for changing its vaccine distribution. In addition, officials say the delay is also because the state has decided to include not only asylums, but thousands of residents in development centers, collective homes and other long-term facilities.
Murphy defended his government last week, arguing that anyone who thought that implementing the vaccination would be simple, without “bumps, twists and turns” is “not paying attention”.
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The number of facilities to receive the vaccine is expected to increase as more of them open CVS and Walgreens vaccination clinics as part of a federal program, said state health commissioner Judith Persichilli.
Nearly 300 of the state’s more than 650 long-term care institutions are already scheduled to vaccinate residents by February. Murphy said on Monday that other sites will be added within weeks.
After nursing home residents and staff members are vaccinated across the state, pharmacies will begin vaccinating thousands of residents and employees in assisted living facilities, the state’s five development centers, federal homes for the elderly, collective homes and more. facilities, said Persichilli.
In all, the state has set aside about 500,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to cover about 17,000 facilities, Persichilli said. Vaccinations will last the rest of December, January and February.
More than 7,000 of New Jersey’s 18,000 coronavirus deaths occurred among residents and employees of nursing homes and long-term care institutions. Authorities announced another 11 deaths from long-term care last week, and there are currently active outbreaks in 427 facilities, resulting in 4,895 new cases among residents and 5,606 among employees.
Murphy, a Democrat, was criticized by Republicans for a week’s delay in delivering vaccines to long-term care facilities.
Opponents of the Republican government issued statements condemning Murphy and his administration, and his predecessor, former governor Chris Christie, tweeted that this is “the biggest flaw in the COVID response in New Jersey”.
New Jersey began implementing its phased COVID-19 vaccination program two weeks ago. It started with health professionals in hospitals and health centers across the state. Essential workers, residents over 65 and those with high-risk medical conditions will come after health professionals and long-term care facilities, while wider distribution to the general public is expected in April, May or June.
New Jersey’s goal is to vaccinate 70% of its adult population in the next six months.
The state is also opening six mega-sites and more than 200 satellite sites to vaccinate residents in the coming months.
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Matt Arco can be contacted at [email protected].
Sophie Nieto-Munoz can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on @snietomunoz.