They ask for patience, explain confusion over registering with state
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
Be patient and wait for that second email.
That is the advice from Cape May County officials for residents anxiously awaiting their COVID-19 vaccines. Officials say they have the infrastructure in place to deliver many more vaccines but they don’t have the supply, which is going to remain limited at least well into February.
The advice about the email is to clear up the confusion caused by the state’s vaccine registration process. The New Jersey Department of Health sends out emails letting people know they are eligible to receive the vaccine, but people who get that notification must wait for a second email that tells them they are now eligible to register for a time and place to actually get the vaccine.
That second email may not be coming for weeks.
On Friday, the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce hosted a video conference to explain what the county is doing to get its citizens vaccinated against the coronavirus. The conference featured county Health Officer Kevin Thomas, Acting County Administrator Kevin Lare, county Commissioners Leonard Desiderio and Will Morey, and COVID-19 liaison Michael Donohue.
Their main message was asking citizens to be patient because of the limited number of vaccines the county is receiving.
Lare said the county has set ambitious goals to get as many people vaccinated by Memorial Day as possible, but that is codependent on the state giving the county the vaccines it needs and on the federal government getting those vaccines to the state.
Desiderio said the county has overcome “great obstacles” during the pandemic and “Giving out of vaccine is another obstacle, but it is something we are going to do.”
Morey said he would add his “sense of enthusiasm in this sea of doubt, that the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t a train.”
The county is prepared to “issue a significant number of vaccines,” Morey said, “but having them is a bit of an obstacle at this point.”
Donohue said the county doesn’t have all the answers because the state isn’t providing the information to the county, and the federal government isn’t providing that information to the states.
“Getting the county open for the summer of 2020 is a big task,” Donohue said. “Vaccination is a bigger task.”
He pointed out the county had administered all the doses of vaccine it has gotten at the highest rate of any county in the state. The county is operating its single site at the Avalon Community Hall, and has another site coming online in the southern end of the county and is looking at a third site in the northern end of the county.
Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian has volunteered the Howard S. Stainton Senior Center “and any other large Ocean City venue as potential sites for vaccinations.”
Gillian said the city also has a small number of paramedics in the Ocean City Fire Department who could help administer vaccines.
Like county officials, the mayor acknowledged the problem lies with getting additional doses in both New Jersey and at the county level.
He said he would continue to push for a vaccination site in Ocean City.
Cape May County has been getting approximately 500 first doses a week, Donohue said, but that number is expected to go down to 400 where it is expected to stay at least a few weeks into February.
The county is doing everything it can to get doses into residents’ arms, but “we can’t schedule an appointment without a dose to give you.”
Initial registration does not mean an appointment
Donohue said registering for a vaccine at the state website (www.covidvaccine.nj.gov) or through the county website (www.capemaycountynj.gov) which links people to the state site, is where the confusion starts.
“People believe registration means an appointment for a shot. It doesn’t. It only gets you into the system; you’ll get an email when you’re eligible,” he explained.
However, the email that tells people they’re eligible doesn’t mean they can schedule an appointment. There will be a followup email that tells people who signed up they can now schedule an appointment with a time and location.
Donohue said the county is hopeful that in four to six weeks, maybe sooner, the federal government will send additional vaccines to New Jersey and the state in turn will send more to the county.
“We don’t want to be overly optimistic,” he noted.
“In terms of making appointment in Avalon, with 400 doses, those appointments will open and close quickly. That’s how it will go for a while. When have the doses, we’ll open more sites. We want to get to 1,000 a day,” he said.
Multi-pronged approach to vaccination
Thomas said there has been a lot of anxiety in the county and his telephone at the Department of Health has been ringing off the hook. He said the state should make the process clearer.
Once registered on the state site, Thomas said, “You’ll get an email that you’re eligible. The state should emphasize that you’ll get another email when a spot has opened up to look for a time slot to register.”
“You have to wait for the second email that says go back in, look for an appointment.”
He explained that hospitals including Cape Regional Medical Center are receiving the Pfizer vaccine and the county Health Department is getting the Moderna vaccine.
As of Friday, 475,000 doses of vaccine had been administered throughout New Jersey, including first and second shots. Both vaccines require two doses.
“I want to see more needles in the arm in Cape May County,” Thomas said. “The more doses I get the more I can get into the community.”
He said the Health Department isn’t alone, that more locations – pharmacies, doctor’s office, urgent cares and CompleteCare sites – will be offering the vaccine in the future.
“I’ve been getting 1,000 doses per week,” Thomas said, for first and second doses, and with only 400 to 500 first doses per week “that’s very frustrating on my part.
“I’m ready to do up to 500 at one single site per day, but don’t have those doses,” he said. “We’ve all been advocating for more doses. It’s not coming to any county.”
He also said there are no doses “sitting on the shelf.”
No computer? Help is available
Starting this past Monday, for people without a computer, the state is providing a phone number so residents can call to talk to someone about the vaccine and get help registering.
The number he provided is (855) 568-0545.
These numbers are on Cape May County government website, Thomas added.