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New Jersey inaugurated the state’s third COVID-19 vaccine ‘mega-yard’ this time during the New Jersey Convention and Expo Center in Edison.
Officials said the target for the facility is 2,000 vaccinations a day. Eventually, the state expects to open six mega-sites, along with pharmacies and other smaller sites that are currently administering doses.
NJ Governor Phil Murphy posed for photos with 76-year-old North Brunswick resident Richard Satyavan, who received the first vaccine dose at the center.
“It is my privilege to be vaccinated. “I am a senior who belongs to a vulnerable group,” he said. “By being vaccinated myself, I help my community so that younger people can go to work because they do not work because of us.”
The state has so far done 310,595 vaccinations, including about 23,000 since yesterday. But officials said the vaccine’s supply was still “extremely limited,” and Murphy blamed the slower-than-expected pace of the federal government for a “major ongoing imbalance between supply and demand.”
‘[It’s] overwhelming because not enough has come out of the feds, ”the governor said.
The state recorded 5,490 new positive PCR tests overnight. COVID-19 hospitalizations decreased to 3,543, including 626 in intensive care units and 438 with ventilators.
While officials welcomed the slight decline, hospital occupancy remains at historic highs. While 452 patients left the hospital, 427 new patients were admitted. The state also reported 67 new deaths, totaling 18,229 during the pandemic.
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