Wayne Vaccination Site Could Be Impacted By Shipping Delays

WAYNE, NJ — Nationwide shipping delays are having an impact in Wayne township, as residents who've gotten a vaccine appointment this week could have to reschedule.

The township hadn't received their share of the vaccines for Wednesday's clinic as of Saturday, Mayor Christopher Vergano said, citing weather-related delays that have been affecting sites across New Jersey.

Gov. Phil Murphy confirmed that last week's vaccine-dose delivery did not make it to New Jersey on time because planes at major hubs for both FedEx and UPS have been grounded due to the weather. Read more: COVID-19 Vaccine Shipment To NJ Delayed, Gov. Murphy Confirms

That site has administered 3,195 doses to date at the Macy's vaccine location in Preakness Shopping Center. Of that figure, 1,028 are second doses, including 450 second doses administered in three hours Saturday.

That officials could administer that many vaccines in just a few hours signals to Vergano that the township could be doing a lot more, but supply is hindering that capability.

Getting a vaccine at the Wayne clinic is hard, as slots are usually filled within the first five minutes. Vergano himself was a loser in the vaccine lottery last week, he said.

"It's the reality of the situation," the mayor said.

Wayne residents are lucky to have a center in their own community, Vergano added, but that doesn't mean there aren't issues.

The biggest of which is something municipalities across the state are dealing with: supply.

"The supply is very low and the demand is very high," said Vergano.

The mayor did a simple equation to build a timeline if the town were to continue receiving doses at this rate.

With 50,000 people living in Wayne, roughly 40,000 of them adults, it would take nearly two years to vaccinate 70 percent of the population receiving 300 doses a week, he said.

"Unless the number of doses is increased to the township of Wayne, people from Wayne are going to have to get vaccinated on the outside, in addition to using our center," he said.

There is good news to report in the township, however, as cases continue to dwindle from the previous two months.

"We're trending way behind the month of January, which is good," said Vergano. "Things are looking better."

There have been 398 new positive cases of the coronavirus reported in the first 19 days of February, Vergano said. An average of 20.42 cases per day is a sharp decrease from both January and December, when case numbers easily topped 1,000.

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