Governor Murphy Marks Historic Beginning Of New Jersey’s COVID-19 Vaccination Effort
NEWARK – Governor Phil Murphy, joined by Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, University Hospital President and CEO Dr. Shereef Elnahal, and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Dean Dr. Robert Johnson, today visited University Hospital’s Vaccine Clinic at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School to mark the historic beginning of New Jersey’s vaccination effort and witness the administration of the first COVID-19 vaccinations to the state’s frontline health care workers.
“This is a day that we have been waiting nearly a year for, and while we know this isn’t the end, we are witnessing, at the least, a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel,” said Governor Murphy. “Without question, we are still in for several hard months and we are going to face stiff headwinds from this second wave, but now our heroic frontline health care workers can begin to take care of their fellow New Jerseyans with a higher degree of confidence in their own protection.”
The federal government has allocated 76,050 first doses to New Jersey for the first tranche of the Pfizer-BioNTech (ultra-cold chain) vaccine, which began arriving at acute care hospitals Monday morning.
New Jersey will roll out COVID-19 vaccines step-by-step to serve all adults who live, work, or are being educated in the state.
Phasing will ensure that limited vaccines are distributed in a fair and equitable manner. Phase 1A of the plan, which captures approximately 650,000 people, includes healthcare workers who are paid and unpaid persons serving in healthcare settings who have the potential for direct or indirect exposure to patients or infectious materials. Acute care hospital workers at highest risk of exposure to COVID-19 will be the first to receive the vaccine.
The Department of Health issued guidance to the all acute care hospitals last week to help prepare for vaccine deployment.
Click here to read the full press statement from nj.gov.
Today, we saw a bright glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) December 15, 2020
Our first #COVID19 vaccines have now been administered to our heroic frontline health care workers.https://t.co/naeqoSzRln pic.twitter.com/2D2nvLw8GD
