Somerset County Begins To Vaccinate Adults 65 Years Old And Older

SOMERSET COUNTY, NJ — Somerset County has begun vaccinating residents ages 65 and older at Raritan Valley Community College's drive-thru clinic, which serves as the primary vaccination site for the county. This expansion to the county's COVID-19 vaccine distribution program began on Monday.

In the past two weeks, Somerset County has vaccinated more than 1,400 community health workers, law enforcement officers, and seniors at the drive-thru clinic in Branchburg.

Registration has been filling up extremely quickly with Monday's 400 slots filled within 45 minutes.

"We understand the desire of our residents to get vaccinated as soon as possible so we can see an end to this pandemic, and the County is doing everything it can to distribute the vaccine we receive as soon as it arrives," said Shanel Y. Robinson, Somerset County Board of County Commissioners Director.

Robinson noted that the exact timing of clinics all depends on how much vaccine is available. At this time, Somerset County is told how many vaccine doses they will receive with a week or so notice which greatly limits clinic scheduling flexibility. Because of this, Somerset County will continue to schedule clinics on a week-to-week basis until there is more certainty in vaccine allocations.

"Somerset County has the ability to vaccinate hundreds of people a day at our drive-in clinics, but unfortunately due to the limited supply everyone is facing we are constrained on how many people we can take care of," said Robinson. "We ask for Somerset County’s patience and understanding and assure you that every dose we receive is being administered as soon as possible. We are as eager as everyone else to see the other side of this pandemic."

Dr. Namitha Reddy, the Director of the Somerset County Department of Health (SCDOH) and leader of the county's COVID-19 response said the goal is to have 70 percent of Somerset County vaccinated by the summer with hopes of getting closer to 90 percent.

Every Somerset County resident who wants to be vaccinated will be vaccinated by the end of the summer and likely much earlier, according to county officials.

The county is hosting vaccination days about three days a week at Raritan Valley Community College, 118 Lamington Road in Branchburg, for the month of January with plans to increase to five days a week depending on the availability of vaccines.

"The supply of vaccine is limited now, but as the state and federal governments increase our allocations we will similarly increase the number of clinics to vaccinate every resident who wants to be vaccinated," said Robinson.

When a clinic is confirmed, it will be announced in a red bar at the top of the Somerset County website at co.somerset.nj.us and on Facebook at facebook.com/SomersetCountyNJ with a link to the registration site.

Registration is required, and the clinics will not be able to accommodate walk- and drive-up clients due to the fixed number of vaccine doses available at each clinic.

When the supply of vaccine is increased, Somerset County will hold clinics in each of three Somerset County regions: North, East, and South. The Somerset County Department of Health is currently identifying locations and private partners to assist in the locations and staffing of clinics to ensure that every dose allocated can be administered as soon as possible.

Here are other public vaccine sites in Somerset County:

• Hunterdon Family Medicine at Bridgewater - 250 Route 28, Suite 100, Bridgewater, 908-237-4238
• ShopRite Pharmacy #447, 601 Route 206, Hillsborough, vaccines.shoprite.com
• ShopRite Pharmacy of Bernardsville, 93 Morristown Rd/Route #202, Bernardsville, vaccines.shoprite.com
• Somerset County Department of Health, Raritan Valley Community College, 118 Lamington Road, Branchburg, 908-231-7155

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