Where can I get the COVID vaccine? Latest list of N.J. sites. Appointments remain limited. – NJ.com
The effort to vaccinate New Jersey residents against COVID-19 pressed forward Thursday as Gov. Phil Murphy announced the Garden State will more doses than expected over the next few weeks, but demand for appointments is still far outweighing the available supplies.
New Jersey will receive about 130,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine in each of the next three weeks, about 30,000 a week more than initially thought, Murphy said Wednesday.
The increased allotment follows President Joe Biden’s announcement Tuesday that the U.S. is ramping up deliveries to states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of the summer or early fall.
As of Thursday, 680,061 vaccine doses have been administered in New Jersey. Of those, 557,175 have received the first of the two-dose shots while more than 100,000 have received the second dose, according to state’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The news comes as state health officials announced that several more cases of the highly contagious variant of the coronavirus, first discovered in the United Kingdom, have surfaced in Ocean, Essex and Morris Counties.
The variant was discovered in people between ages 10 and 65 years old and linked to the death of one person who had significant underlying conditions, health officials said.
Currently in New Jersey, the following groups are eligible for the vaccine: healthcare workers, including those working in pharmacies; long-term care residents and staff, including those in prisons and psychiatric hospitals; first-responders; people aged 65 and older, individuals ages 16-64 with serious medical conditions and smokers.
New Jersey launched a hotline Monday morning to schedule vaccinations for those who are eligible — 855-568-0545.
More groups will become eligible for the vaccine as the inoculation continues. The state’s goal is to vaccinate 70% of the adult population – or 4.7 million adults – within six months.
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Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.