Healthcare workers were the first in New Jersey to start vaccinating on Dec. 15 because they are among the most likely to be exposed to the coronavirus.
But five weeks later, even after the vaccine was extended to more than 4 million residents, some health workers say they have not even been able to make an appointment for the vaccine they desperately want.
‘What about your health workers who work in small businesses? Many of those who work for corporations, hospitals and large groups have been able to do just that, ”said Paula Adamo, a registered dental assistant at a dental office in Morris County. “It feels like I’m left to my own devices to try to get it.”
Like thousands of other frustrated New Jersey residents, she has registered with the state and various health systems. She has been notified that she is eligible, but that makes her just one of possibly hundreds of thousands who are appointments and still cannot get.
“I just feel like I’m being thrown into a pot where no one opens the lid,” she said.
The vaccine deployment in New Jersey has been criticized from the outset. Public health experts said the admission had to be extended somewhat when vaccines were put in freezers because some health workers were reluctant to be vaccinated first or around the holidays.
But when Governor Phil Murphy did announce that anyone over the age of 65, smokers or people with specific chronic health conditions could get the vaccine – based on federal guidance and promises that more vaccines would be available soon – it means more than 4 million people in eligible. overnight. Any healthcare worker or first responder who is still trying to get an appointment is now competing with a much larger pool.
Granted, many in the health care system were already vaccinated at that time because hospitals operated their own vaccination clinics, and some opened them up to workers in their communities. At least 277,118 people were vaccinated when the state, according to the state, changed on January 14.
But for those in the field who do not work at a hospital, nursing home or pharmacy, it was not as easy to take the vaccine as to just go to the clinic at their workplace. They get stuck in the scrum of New Jersey residents who spend hours checking and calling websites, only to find out there are no appointments available.
Government Phil Murphy Center, welcomes vaccination given COVID-19 at the vaccination site at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus.Donna Brennan | Bergen County Management Office
Things are unlikely to improve any time soon. State officials said that despite their earlier belief that the federal government would send much more vaccinations, the state was now expected to receive about the same amount – about 100,000 doses per week – for next month.
Adamo and several others in the healthcare industry have said they understand the enormous and complex problem facing the state as it seeks to achieve its ambitious target of reaching 70% of the adult population – 4.7 million – within six months. in te ent.
But she can not help but be annoyed at the fact that the state is eligible for that degree when there were still health workers who needed the chance.
She said the state is still emailing her and telling her she can make an appointment, but the list of possible sites, including the so-called megasites, has no appointments available. ShopRite said they were booked until April, she said. RWJBarnabas Health has told her that they will email her when appointments are available, and she hopes it will eventually work.
“I feel like I did what I could here,” she said.
Others said they were experiencing similar problems. An Ocean County psychologist working in a psychiatric institution said she and her staff had received mixed messages from the beginning about whether vaccines would be given to them. NJ Advance Media does not nominate her or her employer to protect her from possible consequences of speaking out.
“Actually, everyone is on their own now,” she said. ‘And everyone who works there who got the vaccine got it on their own. Some of them have second jobs at other hospitals, so they got it there. Some of them traveled through the state when they found an open appointment. ”
Like Adamo, she still receives emails that she needs to make an appointment, but she can not find one, even if she expands the search within 100 kilometers.
“It says: ‘You are phase 1A, it’s time to make your appointment, click here. ‘And I click there every day and there are never appointments. “I watch at least once in the morning, in the afternoon, at night, in the middle of the night,” she said. “I just keep hitting again and again.”
Edward Bognacki, a certified drug abuse counselor at a treatment center in Freehold, came across a roadblock earlier in the process.
He pre-registered on the state’s website on January 4, but when he completed the process, he received an error message. When he wanted to redo it, he said he was already registered. But he never received a confirmation email like everyone was supposed to do. He also never received notice that he could be eligible and make an appointment, even though he qualifies for 1A, and now even 1B, because he is 65 and has health conditions.
Bognacki, from Toms River, said he had reached the health department twice via his website and was told he was in the system, although he had not received any confirmation emails. But he is still not notified that he can make an appointment, even though he qualifies and his colleagues do. He heard the governor’s office but had not heard of it.
‘I read online or see on television that they are worried that people will not take the vaccine. “Even some health workers refuse,” Bognacki said. ‘I’m a man who has no problem taking the vaccine. It is important for my health and the health of my neighbors and others that I get this vaccine. I really wanted to get it. But at this point, I’m not sure where I should go next. ”
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Rebecca Everett can be reached at [email protected]. Tell us your coronavirus story or send us a tip here.