NJ COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Push For Teacher Vaccinations

Chatham NJ

19 March, 2021

2:20 PM

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NEW JERSEY —The Garden State has picked up the pace in moving toward its vaccination goals. But state and local officials in New Jersey have several factors to consider in continuous efforts to reopen schools and society at large. Here are some recent updates on getting the COVID-19 vaccine in New Jersey. Who's Eligible The following people are eligible for vaccinations in New Jersey as of Friday: health care workersresidents and workers in longterm-care of high-risk congregate care facilitiesfirst responders and public-safety workers, including sworn law enforcement and fire professionalspeople 65 or olderpeople ages 16-65 with qualifying medical conditions that increase the risk of severe illness from the viruseducators and staff from pre-K through 12th gradechildcare workers in licensed and registered settingstransportation workersadditional people at high risk Transportation workers, additional public-safety workers and other high-risk individuals will be able to get vaccinated starting March 15. The following become eligible March 29: Food production, agriculture and food distribution (including grocery store and restaurant workers)Eldercare and supportWarehousing and logisticsSocial services support staffElections personnelHospitalityMedical supply chainPostal and shipping servicesClergyJudicial system Back to Class? As Gov. Phil Murphy pushes schools to reopen, New Jersey's efforts to vaccinate school staff continue. Murphy originally planned to open vaccine eligibility March 15 for teachers. But President Joe Biden urged state officials to move up the timeline, so Murphy made them eligible earlier this month. Now Murphy is calling for schools to open for some form of in-person instruction by the end of the school year. He expects all schools to fully open this fall. Read more: Gov. Murphy: NJ Schools Should Move To Reopen 'Now' Amid COVID-19 For the second time, Rite Aid dedicated blocks of days for exclusively vaccinating teachers, school staff and licensed childcare program staff. Those vaccination days will occur this Friday and Saturday, along with March 26 and 27. Read more: Rite Aid To Exclusively Vaccinate NJ Educators On Select Days Here's the state's current breakdown on the status of school districts, charter schools, renaissance schools and schools for students with disabilities: 142 are open for all in-person instruction534 have opened for hybrid learning37 use a combination of in-person, hybrid and all-remote learning across buildings98 remain closed for all-remote learning Where NJ Stands The New Jersey Department of Health has logged 3,274,585 vaccine doses administered in New Jersey as of Thursday afternoon. State officials set a goal to fully inoculate 70 percent of New Jersey adults in six months — 4.7 million people by mid-June. Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines each require two shots per person, while the Janssen vaccine only requires one dose. Moderna and Pfizer shots still make up the bulk of the state's vaccinations because of available supply — only 2 percent of vaccines administered so far come from the recently approved Janssen product. That means New Jersey still needs to vaccinate an average of about 51,000 per day to meet its six-month goal. In order to match the required pace, the Garden State would need to have administered 4.85 million shots as of Friday (DATA EXPLAINED HERE). New Jersey's vaccination efforts faced early struggles because of a combination of low supply, shipping difficulties associated with bad weather, state website issues and limitations, and logistical problems that make it difficult for the elderly to get vaccinated. But the state has made up for some lost ground, now regularly meeting the daily pace necessary to meet the six-month goal. But it's not yet known how many New Jerseyans will have been vaccinated by June. NJ and the USA New Jersey ranks in the top half of states in terms of population share who have been fully vaccinated, according to NPR. According to the data, 13.5 percent of New Jerseyans have been fully inoculated as of Friday morning, which ranks 19th in the United States. Alaska holds first place with 18.9 percent, while Utah placed last at 8.9 percent. The Garden State ranks 10th with 26 percent of residents getting at least one shot. New Mexico tops the list at 30.6 percent, while Georgia ranks last at 16.7 percent. Overall, New Jersey has outpaced the rest of the United States. Nationally, 22.7 percent of people have received at least one dose, while 12.3 percent are fully vaccinated, according to NPR.