Here’s the latest on how to schedule a COVID vaccine and where you can find help. (4/16/21) – NJ.com

Only days before all New Jersey residents ages 16 and older become eligible for the coronavirus vaccine, the number of vaccines currently available in the state fell from three to two.

New Jersey stopped the administration of the single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine after federal health officials made the recommendation on Tuesday. The U.S. suggested pausing the vaccine’s distribution after six women between the ages of 18 and 48 experienced potentially serious blood clots 6 to 13 days after being vaccinated.

This means that the two-shot Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are currently the only vaccines available to the public, and will be replacing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in all appointments for the foreseeable future.

Prior to the halting of their distribution, allotments of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were expected to drop this week and the following week. Gov. Phil Murphy said on Tuesday that he still believes meeting his goal of vaccinating 70% of the state’s eligible population by the end of June is “entirely achievable.”

As of Thursday, more than 1 in 3 adults in New Jersey have become fully vaccinated.

Despite the changes in vaccine supply, all individuals ages 16 and older will still be eligible for the shot beginning Monday. Individuals currently eligible for the vaccine include those in multiple different occupational groups, people with certain health conditions, and all residents ages 55 and older.

Counties, municipalities, healthcare systems, pharmacies and other entities are distributing the vaccine and taking appointments themselves, as New Jersey does not offer a streamlined vaccine appointment system.

To help people find and schedule available vaccine appointments, New Jersey recently established an online system that aggregates information from across multiple scheduling platforms, multiple times an hour, to let people know when appointments are open.

However, residents continuing to struggle with scheduling appointments in the face of overwhelming demand can turn to a number of online resources beyond what’s offered by the state. These include New Jersey Covid Vaccine Info, a Facebook group where people can ask questions about, offer guidance for, and even volunteer to help one another with scheduling appointments to receive the COVID-19 vaccine; NJ Vaccine Matchmakers, a group of several hundred volunteers that exclusively work to secure vaccine appointments for seniors; and Twitter accounts @nj_vaccine and @C19VaxxUpdates, which post information about vaccine opportunities and appointments on a regular basis.

Two young brothers from Mercer County also recently launched njvaxfinder.com, which centralizes vaccine sites from across the state.

There are also online appointment resources available to individuals across the country, including New Jersey residents. These include VaccineFinder.org, a service operated by Boston’s Children’s Hospital in partnership with the CDC, and vaccinespotter.org, a website created by a 34-year-old software engineer from Colorado. Both services help individuals track down available vaccine appointments that are in proximity to them.

An appointment is needed at nearly all vaccination sites. Instances in which people have been able to get a shot without scheduling ahead are profoundly rare — not least because even if officials are willing to take down the information of people hoping to receive a shot in place of a no-show appointment, they won’t necessarily contact them.

New Jersey residents fortunate enough to have booked more than one appointment should cancel the unnecessary one to open slots up for others. Second dose appointments should be scheduled with the same entity where the first dose was received.

“Because we have a challenging supply situation, and we don’t have centralized scheduling, it’s of course fine to try to get appointments at different places,” Leslie Kantor, professor for the Rutgers School of Public Health, said. “If you happen to get more than one, then you cancel one.”

Vaccine mega-sites

The Rockaway Townsquare in Morris County, one of the 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 at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic County, appointments are made online through AtlantiCare by creating an account.

Both the Moorestown Mall in Burlington County and the the Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment Complex vaccination site in Bergen County require individuals to complete an online vaccine registration form with Virtua Health and Hackensack Meridian Health, respectively, after which point they can schedule their appointment.

The Rowan College of South Jersey in Gloucester County and the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Middlesex County schedule appointments through registrations made on the statewide website. However, the Edison site also allows qualified individuals to fill out a separate online vaccine registration form with Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health.

County vaccination sites

Beyond vaccine mega-sites, eligible New Jerseyans can pursue a myriad of other avenues to make an appointment to receive the vaccine.

The Department of Health in Burlington County has partnered with the state and Virtua Health to operate the Burlington County mega-site at the Moorestown Mall. Appointments in Burlington County can also be made by calling or visiting the websites of CVS pharmacy, Rite Aid, Albertson’s Pharmacy, or Boyd’s Pharmacy, contacting the local ShopRite pharmacies, creating an account with your local Walmart or Sam’s Club, or by calling or visiting the website of Wegmans, which has a pharmacy in Mount Laurel that is offering vaccinations.

Residents can also call or schedule electronically with Riverside Medical Group in North Willingboro or in Moorestown, make appointments with the Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Brown Mills by pre-registering with the state, or schedule appointments with the Southern Jersey Family Medical Centers in Buttonwood or Burlington City.

Residents of Hunterdon County will be able receive a vaccine at clinics located in Flemington and coordinated by the county’s Department of Health by calling the county or using its online appointment platform. Additionally, they can try to make an appointment with the ShopRite pharmacy in either Flemington or Clinton, or the CVS pharmacy in Flemington or Lambertville. Eligible residents can also schedule an appointment at one of Hunterdon Healthcare’s many clinics by adding their names to the Vaccine Waitlist.

Hunterdon Healthcare also offers a Vaccine Call Center, which they encourage residents to call if they don’t receive a confirmation email after adding themselves to the waitlist.

Dozens of vaccine opportunities are currently found in Essex County. Individuals can request an appointment at the Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair through Hackensack Meridian Health, as well as schedule appointments over the phone at various Newark Community Health Centers.

In addition to ShopRite, Stop & Shop, Rite Aid, CVS and other pharmacies and urgent care facilities, there are also more healthcare facilities in Essex County that are administering the vaccine, ranging from Vanguard Medical Group — which is offering a drive-thru vaccine clinic in Verona— and St. Michael’s Hospital — where appointments can be made online.

Essex County is also offering a range of vaccine clinics, for which appointments can be made online.

People who live, work or attend school in Warren County can make an appointment to receive the vaccine at North Warren High School, the Southwest Branch Library, or the Good Will Fire Company Manor online.

Warren County residents can also make appointments for Hunterdon Family Medicine at Riverfield in Washington by using Hunterdon Healthcare’s Vaccine Waitlist, or through the Atlantic Health System for the Hackettstown Medical Center. St. Luke’s in Phillipsburg is requiring all individuals interested in receiving the vaccine to make a MyChart account, through which they can complete the hospital’s brief questionnaire and afterwards be notified to schedule their vaccine.

In addition to various pharmacies, the Zufall Health Center in Dover is also scheduling appointments with eligible patients.

What to do when there are limited vaccine options

In other counties, vaccine opportunities are vastly more limited. Aside from making appointments with ShopRite pharmacies in Rio Grande or Marmora, various CVS pharmacies in the county, the Rite Aid in Wildwood, or the Walmart in Rio Grande, Cape May County residents can get the shot at its county clinics by pre-registering for the vaccine with the state. The Departments of Health for Middlesex, Somerset, and Mercer counties also coordinate appointments at the state rather than county level.

In Salem County, individuals have the option to make an appointment for vaccination clinics orchestrated by the county’s Department of Health & Human Services. They can also get the shot by contacting the Rite Aid in Pilesgrove, Penns Grove, or Salem; contacting the Walmart in Pennsville; contacting the Albertsons pharmacy in Pennsville; calling the Salem Medical Center; or by making an online appointment with the Southern Jersey Family Medical Center in Salem.

Some New Jersey residents live in municipalities that have created coronavirus vaccine options for their residents. The Health Department of Vineland in Cumberland County is offering vaccine clinics, for which people who live, work, or attend school in Cumberland County can schedule appointments for either the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine online.

Hoboken in Hudson County has partnered with Riverside Medical Group and the Hoboken University Medical Center to vaccinate residents. Eligible groups need to first fill out an online form, after which point they will be contacted by a staff member to officially schedule an appointment. Seniors or family members of seniors can also call the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) at 201-420-5621 to schedule an appointment.

Individuals can also schedule appointments with the state’s vaccine appointment call center by calling 855-568-0545.

The full list of vaccination opportunities in the state, broken down by county, can be found here.

More information about how to get the COVID-19 vaccine in New Jersey can be found here.

To learn more about vaccinations and their distribution in your county, click on your county below:

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Caroline Fassett may be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com.