PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey is making plans to reopen its megasites, to help distribute booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.
The state is waiting for the CDC to determine whether booster shots are best given six or eight months after the second doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli says the state is ready to handle the demand.
“If it moves to six months, we know about two-and-a-half million people will be eligible, and we will be prepared through megasites, county sites and all of our existing sites to get as many people vaccinated as possible," Persichilli said.
She said the aim is to distribute the boosters within a four-month period.
Gov. Phil Murphy said once that CDC determination comes down, people would be eligible for the third doses starting September 20.
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“I think inevitably, if they do shrink this from eight months to six months, we’re going to have a very, very busy few weeks.”
Persichilli said nearly 37,000 immunocompromised people in New Jersey have received their third doses – a number she said is too low.
She is asking medical directors in long-term care facilities to take a closer look to be sure people who need the third doses right now are getting them.
Murphy added that the megasites could reopen every year, should the COVID-19 vaccine become an annual shot.