NJ expecting to receive even more COVID-19 vaccines by March

There’s good news for Garden State residents still waiting to get an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine.

During the latest coronavirus update on Wednesday, which was held virtually instead of in person because Gov. Phil Murphy is quarantining after a member of his family tested positive for the virus, the governor said the state is expecting more deliveries of the vaccine from the federal government over the next three weeks.

State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said the state this week will receive a total of 254,650 first and second doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccine, and those totals will increase slightly for the last two weeks in February.

“The demand for appointments is currently greater than the appointments we have available," she said. "As vaccine doses increase we’ll be able to open up more appointments giving eligible residents more opportunity.”

In recent weeks, Murphy has repeatedly stressed the need for more vaccine supplies to be delivered, pointing out the state’s almost 300 dispensing sites are ready and able to expand vaccination efforts when we get more doses.

On Thursday and Friday, CVS will get 9,900 doses and Rite-Aid will get about 7,500 doses through the federal pharmacy partnership. More than 20 CVS locations and 70 Rite-Aid sites will begin vaccinating eligible residents over the next week.

Appointments for a vaccine will soon be available at cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine, and for Rite-Aid those eligible are being directed to go through the state vaccine scheduling system at covidvaccine.nj.gov.

Murphy said these pharmacy vaccine doses will not impact the amount of vaccine the state is already receiving.

The governor also noted that the Biden administration has indicated it will soon be providing additional vaccine supplies to federally qualified community health centers in New Jersey.

So far, 1.14 million COVID vaccinations have been administered in the state since the start of the vaccine rollout on Dec. 15.

“These numbers, they’re not where they need to be or will be but their continued rise keeps pointing us in the right direction," Murphy said.

You can contact reporter David Matthau at David.Matthau@townsquaremedia.com