Thousands of New Jersey residents continued on Friday to register for the COVID-19 vaccines, which are being administered at more than 130 locations across the state, although appointment times can be daunting due to a huge expansion in eligibility this week.
The state has published a list of coronavirus vaccination sites and residents have requested pre-registration on this state website. After registration, however, people must make appointments at specific locations for filming. Some have already gone without consultations, although this may change daily, as more vaccines are delivered.
State officials, apparently overwhelmed with demand, acknowledged that it may take some time to receive doses after registration. Governor Phil Murphy said in an interview that it could take six to eight weeks to receive the vaccines, with about 4 million people added to the eligibility list on Thursday.
Currently, vaccines are available to health professionals, long-term residents and others in the community, the police, firefighters. Also included are those aged 65 and over and those aged 16 to 64 with specific medical conditions.
State officials are also including 1 million other people with chronic health conditions and about 2 million smokers, who face health risks if they contract the virus.
Health officials have set a goal to vaccinate 70% of New Jersey’s adult population.
The state has received at least 658,000 doses of the vaccine from the U.S. government until Friday, according to data from the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More than 300,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have already been administered in the state on Friday morning, according to the state’s COVID-19 panel.
Of these, 264,556 were the first of the two doses that people will receive, while 35,512 were the second, according to the panel.
The single-day discharge so far was Friday, January 8, when 24,415 doses were administered, according to the state-run company.
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Anthony G. Attrino can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Meet NJ.com on Facebook.