Gov. Murphy: NJ May Get First Coronavirus Vaccines By Christmas

NEW JERSEY — New Jersey could receive its first shipment of vaccine for the coronavirus by Christmas if the federal government approves Pfizer's request for emergency use, Gov. Phil Murphy said Friday.

Murphy made the announcement as the state reached 14,900 deaths in the coronavirus pandemic. It also added another 3,635 positive cases of the virus, giving New Jersey 290,370 cases since March. There were 2,505 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Friday, including 452 in intensive care and 233 on ventilators.

Pfizer is applying to the Food and Drug Administration to authorize emergency use of the vaccine, which it says has been 95 percent effective in trials.

If approved, New Jersey could receive 130,000 doses in the initial shipment. The vaccine requires two doses 21 days apart, and a second shipment of 130,000 would arrive by the end of December, Murphy said.

Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said the first phase of the vaccinations are expected to be limited to health care workers, but the goal is to vaccinate 70 percent of the adult population — about 4.6 million New Jersey residents — within six months.

"There should be sufficient supply (of the vaccines) in April or early May to meet the overall general population demand," she said.

The plan, as it currently stands, has several strategic aims:

• Vaccinate 70 percent of the adult population within six months.
• Provide equitable access to a vaccine.
• Achieve maximum community protection.
• Build public trust.

Murphy has said that part of reaching that maximum community protection would be having 70 percent of the adult population immunized but that a big stumbling block to that goal is additional federal money — as much as $8.1 billion.

Murphy said Congress will have to step in and help.

Moderna said in September it expects 20 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine by the end of 2020 and that its vaccine is almost 95 percent effective. Each person is expected to require two doses of the vaccine. The Massachusetts-based company is looking at between 500 million to 1 billion doses in 2021.

The state could receive 100,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine by end of December, and the second dose in January, as Moderna's vaccine is administered 28 days apart.

"We could have between 400,000 and 460,000 doses of vaccine in the state by early January," Persichilli said.

Persichilli said the Pfizer vaccine will be shipped directly to about 40 hospitals in the state that are able to provide the ultra-cold storage needed for its vaccine. The Moderna vaccine needs regular refrigeration, she said.

The majority of the vaccinations for the general population, which will be in Phase 2 and 3, will available through CVS and Walgreens, with which the federal government has standing arrangements, Persichilli said.

Two other late-stage coronavirus vaccine trials run by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson resumed after suspending over "serious illness" in a few volunteers.

Click here to get Patch email notifications, or get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our app. Download here. Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com Follow Toms River Patch on Facebook.