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New Jersey opened the state’s third COVID-19 vaccination “mega site”, this time at the New Jersey Convention and Exhibition Center in Edison on Friday.
The authorities said the target for the facility is 2,000 vaccinations a day. Eventually, the state hopes to open six mega-sites along with pharmacies and other smaller sites that currently administer doses.
NJ Governor Phil Murphy posed for pictures with North Brunswick resident Richard Satyavan, 76, who received the first dose of the vaccine at the center.
“It is my privilege to be vaccinated. I am a veteran of a vulnerable group, ”he said. “By getting vaccinated, I am helping my community so that young people can go to work because they are not working because of us”.
The state has already carried out 310,595 vaccinations in total, including about 23,000 since yesterday. But officials said supplies of the vaccine were still “extremely limited” and Murphy blamed the federal government for the slower-than-expected pace of a “major imbalance between supply and demand in progress”.
“[It’s] overwhelmingly due to not getting enough out of the feds, ”said the governor, according to the pool reports.
The state recorded 5,490 new positive PCR tests overnight. COVID-19 hospitalizations decreased to 3,543, including 626 in intensive care units and 438 with ventilators.
Although the authorities applauded the slight decline, hospital occupation remains at historic levels. While 452 patients left hospitalization, 427 new patients were admitted. The state also reported 67 new deaths, for a total of 18,229 during the pandemic.
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