New Jersey missed a one-day federal deadline to start providing coronavirus vaccines in nursing homes next week and will instead start its program on Dec. 28, state officials said Friday.
State Commissioner for Health Judy Persichilli said the delay was due to the “amount of information that had to be entered, nothing more than that.”
“To start on the 21st, there was a 7th deadline for entering all registered skilled nursing facilities, long-term care facilities, assisted living facilities, of which we have over 650, we missed that date by a day , Persichilli said at the state’s latest COVID-19 briefing in Trenton. “We asked to start on the 21st and they said no, you start on the 28th.”
The doses will be administered by CVS and Walgreens through a federal partnership, Gov. Phil Murphy said.
“We will start with our veteran homes and skilled nursing facilities, and move into assisted living homes, in addition to other long-term congregational institutions,” said Murphy.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage
CVS said it plans to vaccinate about 156,000 patients at 1,100 facilities in New Jersey. For privacy reasons it wouldn’t mention the facilities.
New Jersey started vaccinating health workers this week, but Persichilli said the state will receive fewer vaccines than initially expected.
The state expected 273,375 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in December, but now it will receive 183,300, she said.
By adding the Moderna vaccine, the state expected to receive 492,075 vaccines, but now it will receive 392,800 doses – a reduction of about 20%, Persichilli said.
The state plans to vaccinate about 70% of New Jersey’s residents in the next six months.
Walgreens began administering the Pfizer vaccine to nursing home residents and staff in Ohio and Connecticut on Friday. It said it will bring vaccinations to 12 states from next week.
Walgreens has not responded to requests for more information about the states it will serve first.
“Getting ourselves up to the 70 percent vaccination rate that we’re aiming for takes time – it will take months,” Murphy said. “It will take a concerted effort from those of us here and many more across the state to demonstrate our confidence in the safety and efficacy of these vaccines.”
More than 7,000 long-term residents have died from COVID-19 in New Jersey.
Subscribe now and support the local journalism that YOU trust and rely on.
NJ Advance Media Staff Writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.
Karin Price Mueller can be reached at [email protected].