Health & Fitness
Small Delay Expected In Delivery Of COVID Vaccine To NJ Hospitals
Gov. Phil Murphy didn't expect a significant delay in the delivery of the coronavirus vaccine to 35 NJ hospitals.
NEW JERSEY — While the delivery of the coronavirus vaccine to New Jersey hospitals will be delayed a little bit due to the nor’easter that hit the state on Wednesday, there will be no significant delays, Gov. Phil Murphy said during a news conference Thursday morning.
“I’m not aware of any place that was expecting it that won’t get it,” Murphy said while speaking at the New Jersey Turnpike Association Traffic Management and Technology Center. “It might just be a little bit later than otherwise expected.”
Murphy said an additional 47 hospitals are expecting to get the vaccine soon, 35 of which were expected either Thursday or Friday. Any delay in delivery would just be a matter of hours, Murphy expected.
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The storm came a day after the very first coronavirus vaccines were administered in New Jersey on Tuesday, and the state has a long line of people already waiting to get a shot. Read more: First COVID-19 Vaccines In NJ: Here's Who Will Get It Next
The vaccine was first administered at six hospitals, including University Health in Newark, Cooper in Camden, AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Morristown Medical Center and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. All have arctic-level, subzero freezers in place to store the vaccines.
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New Jersey's worst storm in three years produced more than 10 inches of snow and rain that shut down trains and buses and was causing crashes and other problems. Delivery of the vaccine was something the state expressed concern for on Wednesday. Read more here: WATCH: NJ Transit Service To Resume As NJ Nor’ester Winds Down
The federal government has allocated 76,050 first doses to New Jersey for the first tranche of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which began arriving at acute care hospitals Monday morning.
Essentially, anyone who works in the healthcare field — or even tangentially connected, such as mortuary workers — in New Jersey qualifies to receive a vaccine in the first round, state Health Commissioner Judy Perischilli said.
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