Moorestown Mall To Serve As COVID Vaccine 'Megasite,' Murphy Says

MOORESTOWN, NJ — The Moorestown Mall has been selected as one of six “megasites” throughout the state that will begin distributing the coronavirus vaccine in January, Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Friday.

The State Department of Health and the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management will run each megasite, which will administer as many as 2,400 doses of vaccine daily beginning with health care workers, according to the state.

“This week our hospitals began administering the first doses of vaccine to their workers and now this announcement provides more good news for our residents,” Burlington County Director Felicia Hopson said Friday evening. “The Moorestown Mall is centrally located and close to several major highways. This promises to be a busy location, and our health care workers and eventually our residents will benefit from the easy access. I applaud the selection and look forward to seeing this mega-site open.”

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Here are the locations of the other “megasites”:

• Bergen County: Meadowlands
• Morris County: Rockaway Townsquare Mall
• Middlesex County: New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center
• Gloucester County: Rowan College of South Jersey
• Atlantic County: Atlantic City Convention Center

Distribution of the vaccine began this week, and it arrived in Burlington County on Thursday. On Thursday, the first shipment of the coronavirus vaccine arrived in Burlington County. Five employees at Deborah Heart and Lung Center received the vaccine simultaneously, nj.com reports.

On Friday, Virtua Health Care began distributing the vaccine. Read more here: Virtua Receives First Round Of Coronavirus Vaccines

The vaccine megasites, expected to open from mid- January to early February, will accept front-line health care workers first, followed by other essential employees — typically emergency personnel such as police and first aid — and then adults 65 or older and those with high-risk health conditions. Health officials have said the general public won’t have access to the vaccine until the spring.

“While the initial rollout of the vaccine is exciting, we must remain patient and continue to be vigilant about doing our part to help prevent the virus’ spread,” Hopson said. “That means wearing masks in public and obeying social-distancing requirements and quarantines. By all of us working together, I know we will finally see an end to this pandemic and a long-awaited return to normalcy.”

The megasites will be supplemented by more than 200 satellite vaccination centers in hospitals, urgent care centers and chain pharmacies, state officials said.

The goal is to get 70 percent of New Jersey's residents vaccinated within 6 months against the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. More than 2,000 people a day will be vaccinated at the megasites.

The satellite vaccination sites are still being set up, Murphy said, but will be at hospitals, federally qualified health care centers, urgent care centers, chain pharmacies and other localized sites arranged with local and county health departments. Read more here: Gov. Murphy: NJ Opening 6 COVID Vaccine ‘Megasites’: Here’s Where

As of Friday, 818 Moorestown residents have tested positive for the coronavirus and 32 have died since the pandemic began. Countywide, there have been 18,322 cases, 551 confirmed deaths and 58 probable deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

With reporting by Karen Wall, Patch Staff