What to know
- New Jersey residents have had brief access to the Hackensack Meridian Health vaccine registration portal, despite the limited eligibility so far reserved for medical staff and first responders.
- Hackensack Meridian says it will email those who are not yet qualified that their appointments will be canceled
- More than 214,000 people in the state have already been inoculated with the vaccine, Murphy revealed in his Monday session; almost 15,000 in that group received the first and second blows
New Jersey residents have started registering for their COVID-19 vaccine over the weekend, unless they should be able to do so unless they are medical personnel, law enforcement, fire professionals or answer.
Hackensack Meridian Health system, the largest hospital system in the state, said on Sunday that its vaccine registration portal was open to all connected people because it had no filter to ensure that priority vaccine groups 1A and 1B were the only people which could be recorded.
The link to the registration somehow started to reach people from other groups and an unknown number of people signed up, according to the hospital system.
Hackensack Meridian says it will email those who are not yet qualified that their appointments will be canceled.
“We’ve added additional educational information as well as improved identification requirements to ensure that only those eligible for the vaccine receive it, in accordance with New Jersey and federal guidelines,” Hackensack said in a statement to NBC New York.
Meanwhile, IT engineers are working all night to put a filter on their registration portal. A spokesman for the hospital system added that no one who was not qualified to receive a dose received a blow at this time.
“We understand that many of our communities are eager to get vaccinated. Once allowed in accordance with state and federal guidelines, we will make the vaccine available to the general public, “the statement continued.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced last week that police and firefighters are eligible for the vaccine. Healthcare workers and patients in long-term care facilities continue to receive the highest priority to receive the vaccine.
More than 214,000 people in the state have already been inoculated with the vaccine, Murphy said in Monday’s session. Almost 15,000 from that group received the first and second blow. Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said the goal was to complete the vaccination of health workers and essential workers – more than 3 million people in total – by May.
The state’s COVID scoreboard has been expanded to show a breakdown between counties, as well as demographics of gender, race and ethnicity of the vaccinated population in New Jersey.
Governor Murphy is scheduled to deliver his state of the state address on Tuesday at 1 p.m.