NJ Vaccination Sites Booked After State Widens Eligibility

Many of New Jersey's vaccination sites ran out of appointments hours after Gov. Phil Murphy widened the pool of those eligible to get the coronavirus shot by more than 4 million people. 

Those 65 years or older or aged 14-to-64 with underlying medical conditions can now receive the vaccine, in a major expansion of the state's vaccination program and a giant step toward its goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the population by June. 

"The call volume has gone up significantly," said Nancy Palamara, vice president of diagnostics and therapeutics at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck. Palamara oversees the hospital's vaccination program and a community site it opened at the Rodda Community Center. She said the site will run out of doses on Friday after 800 scheduled appointments. 

"The demand is high and we certainly want to open up and use the doses we have, we don't want to hold them," Palamara said. 

The problem boils down to simple math. New Jersey has received 654,900 doses which wasn't enough to cover everyone who previously qualified for a shot, including health care workers, police and firefighters. With people returning for their second dose and new waves of eligible groups, vaccination sites say they desperately need more supplies.

"With almost 200,000 seniors living in Ocean County, the largest population of seniors in the state, we need far more distribution venues and certainly a much greater number of actual vaccines to accommodate everyone currently allowed to get it," Ocean County Commissioner Gerry P. Little said in a statement.

About 100,000 people tried to make an appointment on the county website right after Murphy widened the eligibility pool, officials said. The county has scheduled appointments through the end of February.

ShopRite's 39 locations are full, according to a notice on its website. 

But even before New Jersey opened the doors for more people to qualify for the vaccine, many vaccination sites were already booked. Some places in Bergen and Monmouth had no more appointments. Paterson ran out of vaccines earlier this week though they were able to get more doses two days later. 

Murphy has urged patience and said he was confident more vaccines were coming after the federal government announced it would no longer hold back shipments of second doses. While Murphy said people can sign up for the vaccine in any county, some sites are limiting appointments to those who live and work in the area. 

New Jersey has administered about 45 percent of the Pfizer and Moderna doses received from the federal government. Murphy blamed reporting lags for why more vaccines aren't recorded as used. 

Palamara said some sites may be earmarking doses for future appointments.

"I think a lot of them are accounted for, even though they may not have been administered yet," she said. 

Those interested in getting a vaccine must make and appointment and can register on the state website.