The attempt to vaccinate New Jersey residents against COVID-19 came to the fore on Thursday when Gov. Phil Murphy announced that Garden State would expect more doses than expected in the next few weeks, but demand for appointments outweighed heavier than the available stock.
New Jersey will receive about 130,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine in the next three weeks, about 30,000 more per week than initially thought, Murphy said Wednesday.
The increased allocation follows President Joe Biden’s announcement Tuesday that the U.S. will increase childbirth to states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses by the end of the summer or early fall to vaccinate 300 million Americans.
As of Thursday, 680,061 vaccine doses have been administered in New Jersey. Of these, 557,175 received the first two-dose shots, while more than 100,000 received the second dose, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The news comes when state health officials announced that a number of other cases of the highly contagious coronavirus variant, first discovered in the UK, have surfaced in the provinces of Ocean, Essex and Morris.
The variant was discovered in people between the ages of 10 and 65 years and is linked to the death of one person with significant underlying conditions.
Currently in New Jersey, the following groups are eligible for the vaccine: health care workers, including those working in pharmacies; residents and staff for long-term care, including those in prisons and psychiatric hospitals; respond first; people 65 years and older, individuals 16-64 years with serious medical conditions and smokers.
New Jersey launched a hotline Monday morning to plan vaccinations for those eligible – 855-568-0545.
More groups will be eligible for the vaccine as the vaccination continues. The state’s goal is to vaccinate 70% of the adult population – or 4.7 million adults – within six months.
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Anthony G. Attrino can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.