Princeton County opened its own COVID-19 vaccine pre-registration portal on Tuesday afternoon, several hours after the Murphy government opened the statewide online pre-registration portal. The simple Microsoft Office form from Princeton, which is in English and Spanish, can be accessed online here.
People who pre-registered for the vaccine using the Princeton portal will be contacted to make an appointment when they become eligible for the vaccine. Local officials said people who apply for the vaccine on the Princeton waiting list must also pre-register for a vaccine through the New Jersey State online portal. Local officials have said that anyone who wants to get the vaccine at a state vaccination clinic or vaccination mega-site will still need to pre-register on the state’s website, even if they have already pre-registered for a vaccine in the municipality.
Fred Williams, a spokesman for the county, said the list was created as a courtesy for people in the region to sign up to be on the waiting list to receive the vaccine at Princeton’s vaccination clinics. The Princeton waiting list is not connected to the state list, he said. If you pre-register on the Princeton list, it will not be automatically added to the state’s pre-registration database. If you pre-register on the state website, you will not be automatically added to the Princeton waiting list. You must manually add yourself to both lists if you want to be on both lists. Williams said the Princeton waiting list is open to anyone, not just Princeton residents. This waiting list is for anyone who wants the vaccine and who qualifies for it in phase 1B or later.
At the Princeton Council reorganization meeting on Monday night, asked about vaccine registration management, health officer Jeff Grosser explained that local portals were going online in some areas because some cities and counties were starting to operate clinics and needed a system to register people, but the state portal had not yet been activated.
Grosser said that in Mercer County, “closed pods” of people eligible for the vaccine in Group 1A were being identified by various medical groups and first aid groups, in a closed capsule configuration.
“Obviously, once we reach a general population, either the state system will have to be configured and then distributed for use or localized programming software will be needed,” said Grosser on Monday. He said Princeton has developed its own programming system, but still needs to access the state system because it integrates with an immunization database needed to send information about vaccines. Grosser said the first Princeton clinics, which will open next week, will not use the state system.
“We are still evaluating whether, especially after it is implemented, it will be easier to use the state system or the system we have already created that is ready to work,” said Grosser. “It just depends on the appearance of the state system, once it is implemented 100 percent.”
The New Jersey Vaccine Scheduling System pre-registration site allows people to pre-register for the vaccine, even if you are not currently eligible. Currently, the state is vaccinating only health workers and residents and nursing home workers, rated 1st.
Phase 1b can begin later this month and will include “essential frontline workers” and people aged 75 and over. Frontline employees include traffic officials, teachers, school officials, daycare workers, media workers and other essential workers.
On Monday, just over 104,000 people in New Jersey have received the first dose of the vaccine so far, although New Jersey health commissioner Judy Persichilli said at a governor’s press conference that reports about the administration of vaccine may be taking too long.
The state is building six vaccine megaclinics. None of these clinics are in Mercer County. The nearest clinic will be in Edison, Middlesex County. Mercer County officials said the county will also create large sites for vaccination clinics, but no details on the sites have yet been provided. Health professionals are currently able to make appointments for a vaccine at about 200 locations across the state.