Thousands of New Jersey residents continued Friday to register for COVID-19 vaccinations, which are being administered at more than 130 locations across the state, though appointment times may be scary due to a major expansion of fitness this week.
The state has published a list of coronavirus vaccination sites and residents have previously requested to register on this state site. After registration, however, people must make appointments at specific locations for the shot. Some have already run out of appointments, but that may change daily as more vaccines are delivered.
Government officials, apparently overwhelmed by the claim, acknowledged that it could take a while to receive the doses after registration. Government Phil Murphy said in an interview that it could take up to six to eight weeks to receive the shots with an estimated 4 million people added to the electoral roll on Thursday.
Currently, shots are available for health workers, long-term caregivers and other residents in the neighborhood, police, firefighters. Also 65 and older are included and those between 16 and 64 years with specific medical conditions.
Government officials also include 1 million others with chronic health conditions and about 2 million smokers, who face health risks if they contract the virus.
Health officials have targeted them to vaccinate 70% of the adult population in New Jersey.
According to data from the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state received at least 658,000 doses of the vaccine from the U.S. government as of Friday.
According to the COVID-19 dashboard, more than 300,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in the state.
Of these, 264,556 were the first of two doses people would receive, while 35,512 were the second according to the dashboard.
The one-day high so far was Friday, January 8, according to the state 24,415 doses.
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Anthony G. Attrino can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.