Saint Barnabas Will Oversee COVID Vaccinations At Livingston Mall – Patch.com

LIVINGSTON, NJ — Since the coronavirus pandemic began in early March, the Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston has cared for more than 1,500 hospitalized patients stricken with the virus. Now the hospital will be helping to lead the charge on another frontline of the battle against COVID-19: vaccinations.

On Monday, officials announced that Saint Barnabas – which is part of the RWJBarnabas Health network – will be the exclusive healthcare provider responsible for coordinating COVID-19 vaccinations at one of five sites in Essex County.

Saint Barnabas is overseeing vaccinations at the Livingston Mall location in the former Sears building at 112 Eisenhower Parkway. The site is open to residents of Belleville, Livingston, Millburn, Maplewood, Newark, Orange and South Orange.

Essex County residents living in other towns and cities must get vaccinated at one of the other four locations.

The Livingston site will be open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Residents can make appointments at www.EssexCOVID.org, or by calling 973-877-8456. Vaccinations will be given in two doses. Residents making reservations to receive the vaccination will receive two appointments. It is critical that residents attend both appointments, officials said.

Essex County officials offered more details about the process:

“Residents will be asked to provide their medical insurance information and their insurance provider will be billed $16.94 for the first dose and $28.39 for the second dose. If a resident does not have insurance, the cost of the vaccine will be covered by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Provide Relief Fund. There will be no out-of-pocket expenses charged to residents. Residents entering the vaccination site will be pre-screened to verify they have an appointment. Those who do not have an appointment will not be allowed to receive the vaccine that day. Residents will then proceed to a registration table where they will be provided with their paperwork for their visit and receive a card to remind them about their second appointment. After being inoculated with the vaccine, residents will be required to wait 15 minutes while they are monitored for any side effects. Social distancing guidelines will be followed at every site and areas will be sanitized on a regular basis throughout the day.”

Who can get a vaccine? According to Essex County:

“Limited doses of the vaccine are available, and the state Department of Health has compiled a phased in approach to ensure the vaccine is distributed in a fair and equitable manner until larger quantities of the vaccine become available. Those who are eligible to receive the vaccine first are paid and unpaid healthcare workers who may have contact with infected patients or infectious materials and people who are at a higher risk of severe COVID-19 illness, including those over the age of 65 and those with underlying health issues. Next to receive the vaccine will be critical populations which include, but are not limited to, healthcare workers (hospital, long-term care, home care, urgent care and clinics, dialysis centers, dental offices, funeral homes, pharmacies public health, group homes, EMS); first responders, food and agriculture workers, transportation, education and child care, energy, water and sanitation, law enforcement and government; adults at higher risk (long term care residents, people ages 65 and older, those with underlying medical conditions, immunocompromised, incarcerated, homeless shelters, group homes and other congregate settings such as psychiatric facilities); and others at high risk (communities that have disproportionately acquired or died from COVID-19, colleges and universities, people with disabilities and people who are under- or uninsured). The general population will be vaccinated last.”

To kick off operations at the Livingston site, Maria Magno, the assistant director of nursing at the Essex County Hospital Center, was given a COVID-19 vaccine before it opened for the day.

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said that when the county approached RWJBarnabas Health and its CEO, Barry Ostrowsky, they didn’t hesitate to offer the services of nurses to work at the Livingston vaccination center.

“Getting five vaccination sites ready was just the first step in the process,” DiVincenzo said. “We knew getting volunteers to staff the centers was just as crucial.”

DiVincenzo said the involvement of Saint Barnabas should help people feel more confident that getting vaccinated in one of the county’s centers will be safe.

“The COVID-19 vaccination will help stop the spread of the virus, but it will only be effective if at least 70 percent of the population receives the shot,” DiVincenzo said.

Essex County Commissioner President Brendan Gill agreed.

“St. Barnabas Medical Center is one of the finest health care institutions in the Tri-State area,” Gill said. “Their expertise in providing health care will be crucial in ensuring our vaccination process runs as efficiently as possible.”

“Until now, we’ve been on the defense with this virus, utilizing every tool that we have to treat it,” said Stephen Zieniewicz, president and CEO at Saint Barnabas.

“We’re excited to partner with our Essex County executive and embrace this historic vaccination effort for the residents of our community,” Zieniewicz added.

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