RWJ Hospital Somerset To Begin Giving COVID-19 Vaccines Monday

SOMERVILLE, NJ — The COVID-19 vaccines have arrived in Somerset County and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset staff will be among the first to receive them.

The vaccinations arrived on Thursday and the first employee at the hospital at 110 Rehill Ave. in Somerville is scheduled to get the shot at 7:30 a.m. on Monday.

The shots will be given out to staff members based on categorization from high priority to low, according to RWJUH Somerset CEO Tony Cava.

A staffer labeled as high priority are typically people who have direct daily contact with COVID-19 patients — such as doctors, nurses, housekeeping, rehab, etc., said Cava.

Following that will be staffers who have contact with unknown COVID-19 patients and then back-office folks will get the vaccine, said Cava.

"Our goal is to vaccinate all of our healthcare workers first," said Cava.

The vaccination is given out in two doses. Cava is hoping to have all healthcare workers in Somerville get the first dose within the next 3 to 4 weeks. Then the second dose will be given out the following 3 to 4 weeks.

Coronavirus vaccines are in limited supply at the moment. The state of New Jersey has 76,050 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to give in the first round. By Friday, vaccines should have been available at an additional 47 acute care hospitals that can manage the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which requires ultra-cold chain storage.

Preparing for a resurgence

With the holidays and winter season upon us, Cava also touched on how the Somerset hospital is preparing for an increase of hospitalizations throughout the winter months.

So far, with the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, Cava said the hospital is handling them well.

"The numbers are creeping up for sure but not nearly where we were in April," said Cava.

Back in April, Cava estimated the hospital was at about 60 percent capacity with COVID-19 patients. The hospital was utilizing four medical-surgical units and most of its critical care unit space.

Now Cava estimates that two medical-surgical units are being used for COVID-19 patients and three-quarters of the critical care unit.

"I don't think we got the full Thanksgiving buck. Not what everyone was predicting," said Cava.

However, Cava noted there was an increase in COVID-19-related hospitalizations this past week. He believes with the upcoming big holidays approaching and New Year's he expects to see a "pretty significant rise in [COVID-19] positivities."

As far as Personal Protective Equipment, Cava said the hospital is set with at least a 90-day supply in the event there is a shortage again.

"We are not really worried about PPE this time around. I think we did a really good job of stockpiling for the second wave," said Cava.

Get the vaccine, says Cava

As Christmas and New Year's approaches, Cava is warning residents "not to let their guard down because we got the vaccine and not to go back to normal pre-COVID times."

"I would encourage everyone once the vaccine is released to the public that they should get the vaccine. It has been proven safe," said Cava. "I would also caution that just because you got vaccine it doesn't mean you should stop wearing masks and social distancing. We need to continue to do that until 70 or 80 percent have been vaccinated."

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