On Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, Jewish Federation attended a briefing with Governor Murphy's office for an update on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Deputy Chief of Staff, Deborah Cornavaca, shared that the state's goal is to get 70 percent of adults vaccinated within 6 months. However, supply of vaccines, at this time, continues to be limited to 100,000 doses per week in the state.

She noted supply should begin to increase somewhat in the coming 4 weeks or so, and efforts are currently underway to enable Holocaust survivors and WWII veterans to receive their vaccines among the prioritized "1A" group. 

While, she explained, the rollout was devised to take place in a decentralized way -- with people being able to sign up for and receive the vaccine from independent providers (such as hospitals and supermarkets) as well as from the state, Cornavaca emphasized this: The most important thing to do, even while attempting to get a vaccine appointment from various providers, is to register with the state to ensure you are notified when you become eligible.

The direct link to the state pre-registration page is https://covidvaccine.nj.gov/ or

CLICK HERE

Cornavaca also noted the state has launched a telephone line for those who are not able to use a computer to navigate vaccine registration and appointment-making. In its initial days of use, the phone line functioned merely as an information line, but its full functionality was expected to go live in the last days of Jan. or early days of Feb.

We are told The New Jersey COVID-19 Vaccine Call Center should be open M-F, 8am to 8pm in multiple languages. The number is:

1-855-568-0545

After the session, the governer's office shared the following additional resources. 

The primary resource for information, including FAQs:
https://covid19.nj.gov/pages/vaccine

Volunteer with the Medical Reserve Corps:
https://www.nj.gov/health/lh/njmrc/

The comprehensive list of current vaccine sites can be found at: 
https://covid19.nj.gov/pages/covid-19-vaccine-locations-for-eligible-recipients

The NJ Department of Health has a vaccine page, including the state’s submitted vaccination plan: 
https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/covid2019_vaccination.shtml

Vaccine Provider Site pre-registration:
https://njiis.nj.gov/core/web/index.html#/newFacilityEnrollment

To subscribe to the e-newsletter, VAX Matters, please use this link:
https://www.state.nj.us/health/cd/topics/vmsignup.shtml

The Department of Health You Tube Channel with education and informational video clips:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOXWk66_cfg2MClHHv4AAxA/videos