Vaccinations resume in New Jersey after nor'easter closes clinics

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J. - Vaccinations resumed in New Jersey on Wednesday after a powerful nor'easter brought significant snowfall to the region and forced clinics across the state to close for two days.

Heather Scaglione, 87, came to the Rowan College in Gloucester County with her daughter, who was unable to get her own appointment, but was anxious for her mother to have her shot.

"You just have so much anxiety and you’re fearful that she’s careful, but you know what it can do when someone is in the older bracket," Scaglione said.

Gloucester County is one of New Jersey’s six mega-sites which opened for vaccinations Wednesday after the snow and wind of the Nor’easter closed them Monday and Tuesday.

Lines of people hoping to get their first or second dose of the life-saving vaccine stretched into the parking lot well before the site opened at 2 p.m. County administrator Chad Bruner said he expects the clinic to provide up to 3,500 vaccinations a day due to the logjam created by the storm.

Meanwhile, healthcare providers at the Blackwood clinic in Camden caught up on storm-delayed appointments and ended up inoculating over 1,000 people.  

According to Gov. Phil Murphy, New Jersey has given the COVID-19 vaccine to more than 800,000 people. While doses remain limited, Murphy is hopeful the supply will ramp up soon.

Starting next week, 1 million doses will be distributed to some 6,500 pharmacies across the country, the White House said. Biden's administration is also boosting by 500,000 the weekly allocation of vaccines sent directly to states and territories for the coming weeks, up to 10.5 million. It is allowing state and local governments to receive additional federal dollars to cover previously incurred expenses relating to the pandemic.

Coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients announced the moves on a call with the nation's governors Tuesday morning and then detailed them to the public in an afternoon news conference.

Drugstores have become a mainstay for flu shots and shingles vaccines, and the industry is capable of vaccinating tens of millions of people monthly. "This will provide more sites for people to get vaccinated in their communities," Zients said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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