You can be denied a COVID vaccine appointment, based on where in N.J. you live – NJ.com

They made their appointments, got in their cars and were ready to stroll into the vaccine center, when police officers turned them away at the last second.

Locals only, was the response from officials at Teaneck’s Richard Rodda Community Center.

Despite objections from exasperated travelers, residence-based policies are completely allowed, as Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli clarified Friday.

“I do want to make a distinction between the megasites and the county sites,” she said. “There are a number of counties that have put up their own sites. And very appropriately, they will give priority to the county residents first. I want to make that clear, go to a mega site, with the state-supported site anyone can go there, but the counties will give priority to their county residents first.”

That hasn’t eased the understandable frustration of residents trying to navigate an onerous appointment system, especially when the policy had not been made clear ahead of time.

When Teaneck received 566 coronavirus vaccine doses last week, the information was posted on Holy Name Medical Center’s website and people were told they could register for vaccinations.

But when the site received 1.2 million clicks on Sunday, technical problems developed. Those problems resulted in some people believing they had completed registration when they had not.

Faced with website problems and overwhelmed by inquiries online and in person, Teaneck officials decided to prioritize the vaccination of local residents over people from other towns, township officials said.

“You can’t offer the vaccine to everybody from Day 1 or else nobody gets it,” Deputy Mayor Elie Y. Katz said Thursday.

Katz said about 1,300 senior citizens were vaccinated Monday and Tuesday with the 566 doses they received. The deputy mayor said each dose is enough for two vaccinations.

A number of county vaccine websites have made it painstakingly clear that their programs are only open to county residents.

In Essex, residents are asked to fill out a survey that includes the questions “do you work in Essex County but reside in a different county?” and “are you a resident of Essex County, NJ?” If users answer no to both questions, the form automatically tells them they are ineligible at this time.

The same is true of Salem County’s Google Form vaccine survey — if someone answers no to the very question, “Are you a Salem County resident,” they’ll never see the rest of the questions.

A message on Hudson County’s vaccine website instructs residents that “As of January 14, 2021 appointments are reserved for the following groups of people (who must live or work in Hudson County).” If someone tries to call the Hudson Regional Health Commission, the first question an operator asks is whether you live or work in the county.

Others are opening their doors to residents from across the state. Anybody can receive a vaccine at one of Middlesex County’s sites and proof of residency isn’t asked for, a county spokesperson told NJ Advance Media.

In Passaic County, Paterson is running one of the state’s most accessible vaccine programs — residents from anywhere in the state are welcome and no appointments are taken, though availability has fluctuated due to vaccine limitations.

Residents have come from as far as Atlantic County, driving two hours to stake out a spot in line, the first arriving at Paterson’s International High School at 2 a.m. before doors opened at 9:30 a.m.

“This is a humanitarian effort and it’s a global crisis, so we’re not turning non-Paterson residents away,” Mayor Andre Sayegh said last Friday.

Eventually, vaccines will be given to anyone in New Jersey who wants to come Teaneck, Katz said, adding that proof of residence won’t matter in the weeks ahead.

“But during this week, as they tried to work the kinks out of the system, they did make the net smaller,” the deputy mayor said.

Katz said communication could have been better so that people didn’t waste time coming to Teaneck only to be turned away.

“We don’t have everything perfect,” Katz said. “We ask everyone to be patient. Eventually, everyone who wants the vaccine is going to get it.”

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Josh Axelrod may be reached at jaxelrod@njadvancemedia.com.

Anthony Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com.

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