Vaccination effort continues as NJ officials push front line workers, more to get COVID vaccine

Vaccination effort presses on as NJ officials push front line workers, more to get COVID vaccine

Jeff Cole has details as NJ pushes forward in vaccinating front line workers and more

MOUNT EPHRAIM, N.J. - New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is talking about the state’s vaccine distribution, now that 10 months have passed since the state saw its first case.

The Camden County community of Mount Ephraim is known, in part, for its busy commercial strip running along the Black Horse Pike.

4,600 people live in the borough, and in towns big and small, the COVID vaccine is front of the mind.

Karen Fantozzi will soon turn 80-years-old.

"I see what the vaccine does for the flu. What the vaccine did for polio. Why wouldn’t I take it to get rid of this terrible problem we have," Fantozzi questioned.

As 2020 closed, Camden County had nearly 29,000 COVID cases and more than 740 deaths.

The grim numbers make the somewhat sluggish rollout of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines crucial.

"Our job is to protect every life we can in every way we can, be that through maintaining social distancing, masks or getting vaccinated when the time comes," explained Gov. Murphy.

FULL COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS

At the University Hospital in Newark Monday morning, health care workers became fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as they received their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

Leaders in the Garden State say they’ve vaccinated over 100,000 front line, health care workers and the elderly.

In the first of the year COVID briefing, they pressed health care workers to get the shots in hundreds of sites across the state.

"You may work in a dentist office, in an urgent care or in community nursing or visitation, you can get vaccinated at one of the 200 sites," stated N.J. Health Commissioner Judith Persichiii.

New Jersey expects to open two, of what it calls, mega-sites for vaccination of health workers by the end of the week.

And, while the state appears to be moving quickly to get what vaccine it has into arms, its latest COVID death count tops 17,200, nearly 80 percent of which are over 65.

There was joy at University Hospital Monday, but confusion and concern remains among the public.

"I really don’t understand it. I don’t know what’s going on. I do know people need to be protected\. I know people are dying," Glassboro resident Charles Walker pondered.

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