More than 1.8 million New Jersey residents have received doses of the coronavirus vaccine since its launch last year, although that number may start to increase at a faster rate as the vaccine supply grows to meet demand overwhelming.
In the near future, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines will not be the only vaccines available to New Jersey residents. The US Food and Drug Administration announced on Wednesday that Johnson & Johnson’s single injection COVID-19 vaccine meets the requirements for Emergency Use Authorization and can be fully approved by the federal government in a few days.
The New Brunswick-based pharmaceutical giant also said on Tuesday that it will be able to deliver enough vaccine to immunize more than 20 million Americans by the end of next month.
Vaccination sites across the state have also increased recently. Earlier this month, New Jersey expanded its COVID-19 vaccine distribution program to include some places of worship and community centers, and established a federal retail pharmacy program with Rite Aid and CVS.
However, despite the next influx in vaccine dosages, residents eligible for the injection remain confined to these priority groups – specifically health professionals, first responders, people over 65 and those with chronic health conditions.
All New Jersey residents can pre-register for vaccination through the state’s online COVID-19 Vaccine Registration website. The state also offers a call center for scheduling vaccines, but announced earlier this month that the ability to call for an appointment has been temporarily suspended due to reports from people who have been waiting for hours while trying to pass, as well as others are not. able to make commitments at all.
New Jersey does not have a simplified vaccination marking system, which means that countless counties, counties, healthcare systems and other entities can make appointments on their own.
Many of these entities provide useful online and telephone resources for people looking for information on how to schedule an appointment or help others who don’t understand technology or have easy access to a computer.
Residents who continue to struggle to schedule appointments in the face of huge demand are also turning to New Jersey Covid Vaccine Info, a Facebook group established by two New Jersey natives where people can ask questions, offer guidance and even volunteer to help some to others with scheduling appointments to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Consultation is required at almost all vaccination sites. The cases where people got a chance without scheduling in advance are extremely rare – not least because, even though employees are willing to jot down information from people who expected to get a chance in lieu of a no-show appointment, they won’t necessarily contact them.
“We can’t just decide if we’re eligible,” said Leslie Kantor, a professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health, previously to NJ Advance Media. “Some people, it is completely clear. Health workers, they will pass immediately. “
Kantor approved New Jersey’s eligible residents who try to arrange meetings with several different locations – as long as they remain responsible in the event of overbooking.
“As we have a challenging supply situation and we do not have centralized programming, it is clear that it is okay to try to get commitments in different locations,” said Kantor. “If you happen to receive more than one, cancel one.”
The Rockaway Townsquare in Morris County, one of six coronavirus vaccine mega-sites, schedules online appointments with the Atlantic Health System, which also allows individuals to sign up to receive vaccine alerts that are sent to their phone or email address.
At the vaccination mega-site in Atlantic City Convention Center, bookings are made online through AtlantiCare; at the Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment Complex vaccination site in Bergen County, appointments can be made virtually with Hackensack Meridian Health.
Both the Moorestown Mall in Burlington County and the New Jersey Convention and Exhibition Center in Middlesex County require qualified individuals to first complete a separate online vaccine registration form with Virtua Health and Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health, respectively, after which they will receive an email or text to schedule their appointment.
Rowan College of South Jersey in Gloucester County schedules appointments through registrations made on the state website.
In addition to the vaccination mega-sites, eligible New Jersey residents can follow a myriad of other ways to make an appointment to receive the vaccine.
The Department of Health of Burlington County has partnered with the state and Virtua Health to operate the Burlington County mega-site at Moorestown Mall, announcing on its website that the county will not receive a vaccine in the coming weeks for new first-dose clinics. Previously, the county operated clinics at the Burlington County Emergency Services Training Center in Westampton.
Burlington County appointments can also be made by calling or visiting the CVS, Rite Aid or Boyd’s Pharmacy websites, visiting the ShopRite pharmacy website, calling or scheduling electronically with the Riverside Medical Group urgent care unit in Willingboro or Riverside Medical Group in Moorestown, or making an appointment with the Southern Jersey Family Medical Centers in Buttonwood or Burlington City.
Residents of Hunterdon County you can get a vaccine at clinics located in Flemington and coordinated by the county’s Department of Health by calling the county or using your new appointment platform. In addition, they can try to make an appointment at the ShopRite pharmacy in Flemington or Clinton, or at the CVS pharmacy in Flemington. Qualified residents can also call Hunterdon Healthcare’s Vaccine Call Center to schedule an appointment at one of the network’s many clinics.
Dozens of vaccine opportunities are currently found in Essex County, where medical centers, including Hackensack Meridian Health, are accepting online consultations and several consultations at Newark community health centers by phone.
In addition to the ShopRite, Rite Aid and CVS pharmacies and small urgent care facilities, there are also health facilities in Essex County who are administering the vaccine, ranging from the Vanguard Medical Group – which is only accepting vaccine appointments for their patients through an online scheduling application – and St. Michael’s Hospital – where consultations can be made online.
Essex County also offers a variety of vaccine clinics, for which consultations can be made online.
People who live, work or attend school in Warren County you can make an appointment to receive the vaccine at North Warren High School, the Southwest Branch Library or the Good Will Fire Company online.
Warren County residents can make appointments through the Hunterdon Healthcare Vaccine Call Center for Hunterdon Family Medicine in Riverfield, Washington, or via the Atlantic Health System to Hackettstown Medical Center. St. Luke’s in Phillipsburg is requiring all individuals interested in receiving the vaccine to register for a MyChart account, through which they can complete the hospital’s brief questionnaire and then be notified to schedule the vaccine.
The Zufall Health Center in Dover is also contacting eligible patients to notify them of consultation opportunities.
In other countries, vaccination opportunities are much more limited. In addition to making appointments at ShopRite pharmacies in Rio Grande or Marmora or at CVS pharmacy in Villas, Cape May County residents can obtain the vaccine at county clinics by pre-registering for the vaccine in the state. Health Departments for Middlesex, Somerset, and Mercer counties also coordinate nominations at the state level, not the municipal level.
At the Salem County, individuals have the option of making an online appointment for vaccination clinics orchestrated by the county’s Department of Health and Human Services. They can also get the chance by contacting Rite Aid in Pilesgrove, calling Salem Medical Center or making an appointment online with the Southern Jersey Family Medical Center in Salem.
Some New Jersey residents live in counties that have created coronavirus vaccine options for their residents. The Vineland Department of Health in Cumberland County is offering vaccine clinics, for which residents can schedule appointments online.
Hoboken in Hudson County has partnered with Riverside Medical Group and Hoboken University Medical Center to provide a coronavirus vaccine to its residents and healthcare professionals. Qualified groups must first complete an online form, after which they will be contacted by a team member to officially schedule a meeting.
Individuals can register to receive a coronavirus vaccine at the state Department of Health online here.
The complete list of vaccination opportunities in the state, broken down by municipality, can be found here.
More information on how to obtain the COVID-19 vaccine in New Jersey can be found here.
To learn more about vaccines and their distribution in your county, click on your county below:
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Caroline Fassett can be contacted at [email protected].