PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey’s front-line health care workers are beginning to get their second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Monday, and the state said online appointments for the next vaccination group could be rolled out soon.
Health care workers who received their first dose three weeks ago are now getting their second and final doses of the two-part Pfizer vaccine.
New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said a Professional Advisory Committee has been meeting twice a week to develop recommendations on who should be next to get the vaccine.
The so-called “1B” group will likely include essential workers and people over 75.
Persichilli said she expected a state web portal would soon be available for those next in line to register for vaccination appointments.
“When we open up 1B we should have appointments available. So the system should come up about a week before that,” Persichilli said Monday at the governor’s coronavirus briefing. “So I would expect in a couple of weeks, we will see something.”
Persichilli said one of the state’s six “megasites” for vaccinations should open Friday at Rowan College of South Jersey in Sewell.
Authorities have said vaccinations for the general public, though, won’t be available until April or May.
Persichilli said the state had received 400,000 doses of the vaccine. She said while 101,000 doses have been administered, the actual number is likely higher due to delays in reporting, especially at psychiatric hospitals.
She said 120,000 doses were being held for long-term care facilities.
The medical director of the state health department’s communicable diseases service, Dr. Ed Lifshitz, tried to allay the fears of residents and health care workers who may be hesitant to get the vaccine.
“In New Jersey, we've had about half a million cases of COVID with almost 20,000 deaths,” he said. “In the United States, we’ve given almost 10 times that number of doses, or over 4 million doses with zero deaths from the vaccine. I’d certainly take my odds with the vaccine over the virus any day of the week.”
State health officials said they were unaware of any serious allergic reactions to the vaccine in New Jersey.