By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
One million New Jersey residents have registered to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
As of Monday morning, the state had vaccinated just shy of 200,000 people.
The state debuted new graphs Monday on the state’s COVID-19 hub at covid19.nj.gov, to track progress in state vaccinations.
As of Monday morning, the state had administered 214,433 doses of the vaccine – 199,293 first doses and 14,984 second doses.
The information hub also gives a breakdown by county.
At the update Monday, 3,092 doses had been administered in Cape May County and 6,987 doses in Atlantic County. Cumberland County had administered 2,907 doses and in Salem County it was 1,047. The state’s largest population centers, where the pandemic has taken the greatest toll in cases and deaths, also had the most vaccines administered, including 23,784 in Bergen County and 18,874 in Essex County.
Doses were roughly split between the Moderna vaccine (54 percent) and the Pfizer vaccine (46 percent). By gender, 64 percent of those receiving them were female and 36 percent were male.
Vaccine: 1 million
have signed up
State Health Commissioner Dr. Judith Persichilli said 1 million people have registered for the COVID-19 vaccine.
The state’s goal is to vaccinate 70 percent of New Jersey’s adult population – 4.7 million adults – within six months.
The state just opened its second mega-site at Rowan University Monday morning that will be capable of vaccinating 2,000 individuals a day, but the limiting factor remains the supply of the vaccine.
Right now, the state is vaccinating individuals in Phase 1A, staff in health care settings who have the potential for direct and indirect exposure to patients or infected materials along with staff and patients at long-term care facilities.
The state also has started vaccinating individuals in Phase 1B, which includes law enforcement, fire personnel and other first responders.
Of those who have registered for the vaccine, 7 percent are in the 1A group, 31 percent are in 1B, 43 percent in 1C and 20 percent in Phase 2, Persichilli reported.
There are about 650,000 health care workers and 50,000 first responders in New Jersey, she said.
To sign up, go to covidvaccine.nj.gov.
No documentation
Persichili said no one is required to provide proof they are in a specific category, either by age or profession. Questioned about whether that would allow for people to “jump the line” by lying about their eligibility, the commissioner said state officials want the vaccination process to be a positive experience and she expected people to self-report accurately.
If people have to show identification and proof of profession, it would cause delays in the process of getting people vaccinated.
“Everyone will get vaccinated who wants to get vaccinated,” Persichilli said. “We don’t see any reason for further mandates for identification.”
U.K. strain
State Epidemiologist Dr. Amy Tan said New Jersey hasn’t identified any of the U.K. strain of the coronavirus that spreads more quickly, but noted is has appeared in 60 cases in eight states, including some that neighbor New Jersey. She said she wouldn’t be surprised if it were here in the state.
Although the variant spreads more quickly, it isn’t more dangerous, she said. However, because of the easier spread, residents need to keep their guard up and be vigilant about wearing masks, social distancing and washing their hands.
No graduation
assessment test
Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday that he signed an executive order to waive graduation assessment test requirement for all 12th grade students who have satisfied all other statutory graduation requirements; to remove Student Growth Objectives from educator evaluations for the 2020-21 school year; and to extend the time in which certified substitute teachers can serve in a single district as long as the state of emergency in New Jersey continues.
Murphy said he is making the changes because “this is not a normal school year. We have to be more flexible and more understanding.”
COVID trends
The state’s rate of transmission edged up to 1.09 and as of Monday there were 3,653 patients in state hospitals being treated for COVID-19. He pointed out that at the greatest peak during the pandemic, there were 8,270 hospitalizations and that the state hopes to keep the numbers where they are now or lower so the health care system is not overrun and forced back into crisis.
As of Monday, the state has seen 532,959 positive PCR tests for COVID-19 and another 57,206 positive antigen tests for the virus.
There have been 17,873 residents who have died of causes related to COVID-19 and another 2,059 probable related deaths.
Fifty-one state residents were reported dead because of the virus Monday.
