NJ Addressing Coronavirus Vaccine Problems After Nor'easter

NEW JERSEY —New Jersey officials say they're addressing problems caused by the nor'easter that led to the postponement of thousands of COVID vaccine appointments and other issues.

Appointments that were postponed when six COVID-19 vaccination “mega-sites” closed this week due to the winter storm are currently being rescheduled, state officials said announced during a news conference Wednesday.

The state’s six sites were closed on Monday and Tuesday but reopened Wednesday, Deputy Health Commissioner Dr. David Aldinaro said during a news conference on Wednesday.

They were closed when a state of emergency was declared for New Jersey due to the storm. On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy said that state of emergency was still in effect.

Those sites were able to reschedule those appointments throughout this week, said Adinaro, who was speaking while New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli is in self-quarantine.

Anyone affected by closures Monday and Tuesday should’ve received a call, text or email from the healthcare or other operating partner at a vaccination site to have their appointment rescheduled, Aldinaro said.

Going into the weekend, each site was aware that a storm was coming, and they had contingency plans in place to make sure everyone would still get vaccinated this week, he said.

The vaccine call center for the entire state, meanwhile, remained operational through the storm, and continued to pre-register individuals, answer questions and provide contact information for sites, Aldinaro said. But they did not schedule appointments for Monday or Tuesday due to the storm.

The state is currently assessing the full impact of the storm on appointment availability and hope to begin scheduling soon, he said.

Anyone who received their cancellation notification through the state system will be notified of their rescheduled appointment through the state’s system, he said.

Anyone who made appointments through another system will be rescheduled through that system, he said.

The scheduling of appointments will begin in waves, officials said. Before the storm, they had been hoping to put more operators on. In fact, the state had begun to schedule second-dose appointments on Saturday, but that process was put on hold when the sites were closed, and it became clear the state would have to reschedule appointments, Adinaro said.

He said “thousands” of notifications for second-dose appointments were sent before the pause.

“We expect to resume sending those notifications soon, likely today,” Adinaro said. “Second doses will be delivered within the window of time recommended by the CDC.”

The nor'easter also forced Bergen New Bridge Medical Center to cancel appointments on Monday and Tuesday, but those people can still get vaccinated this week.

The Paramus hospital will honor appointments canceled because of the snowstorm, vaccinating those people Wednesday through Saturday. Read more: Bergen New Bridge Resumes COVID Vaccinations After Nor'easter

All “mega-sites” have received their shipments, and most of the weather-delayed vaccines were expected to arrive on Wednesday or Thursday, Adinaro said. All doses are accounted for, according to Murphy.

While the storm disrupted the state’s vaccination operations, Adinaro said more and more people were being vaccinated. As of Wednesday, 837,225 New Jersey residents have been vaccinated against the coronavirus.

“We continue to see increases in allocations, and the federal government assures us that we will continue to receive all second dose allocations,” Adinaro said. “Our hope is that the federal government will continue to increase vaccine supply, but doses are still very limited, so we continue to ask for the public’s patience. There is still an imbalance between supply and demand.”

Below are the locations for New Jersey’s six vaccination “mega-sites”:

• Bergen County: Meadowlands
• Morris County: Rockaway Townsquare Mall
• Middlesex County: New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center
• Burlington County: Moorestown Mall
• Gloucester County: Rowan College of South Jersey
• Atlantic County: Atlantic City Convention Center

Even if you're not eligible to receive a COVID-19 yet, New Jerseyans can pre-register online and will be notified of when an appointment becomes available.