NJ's 6 Reasons Why COVID-19 Vaccine Isn't Moving Fast Enough

NEW JERSEY — A reporting lag. A slow federal response. Not getting what they ordered.

Gov. Phil Murphy said the development of a vaccine for the coronavirus in 10 months has been "nothing short of miraculous." But now that it's here, local officials and state lawmakers have either mildly complained or outright griped that New Jersey is not getting the vaccine to its 9 million residents quickly enough.

Murphy himself says he'd "like all of us to be faster," and he's complained about a lack of a national strategy to get the vaccines to where they're needed most.

Murphy and health officials, as a result, outlined at least six possible obstacles they've encountered as New Jersey has worked to open distribution to millions of more people (see list below).

"We'd like all of us to be faster. We'd like more supply out of the feds," Murphy said.

The Murphy administration has provided a list of sites where the vaccine is currently available, and ShopRite has announced that 39 of its stores can now provide immunization. Six mega-sites will also be open very soon. Read more: When Can You Get COVID-19 Vaccine In NJ? Here's The New 2021 List

"What will it look like eventually?" Murphy said. "It'll be hundreds of different places and types of places, from the mega-sites to health care places ... grocery stores, pharmacies. I think it's going to be a whole tapestry of where you can get this."

Murphy made the remarks as he said New Jersey is opening up its vaccine program to some recipients in the next phase. Police and fire professionals will now be able to receive the vaccine. Read more: NJ Expands COVID-19 Vaccines As State Begins Move Into Next Phase

But those words weren't enough for some lawmakers. Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) on Wednesday criticized the administration’s distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, saying New Jersey is seriously lagging behind the U.S. average.

O’Scanlon blasted what he called the "state’s abysmal vaccination rollout rate" and faulted the administration’s lack of preparation.

“Somehow we’ve only distributed 30 percent of our vaccine allotment so far. There are other states at 62 percent, so what’s the issue here?” said O’Scanlon.

O'Scanlon, citing an NBC news report, said neighboring states are "vastly outpacing" New Jersey in vaccination rate per population. New York and Delaware rates of delivered doses are 25 percent higher than New Jersey, and New Hampshire and Massachusetts are 42 percent higher, he claimed.

“While the governor might be calling on retired health care professionals now to volunteer to help distribute the vaccine, it’s a bit too late when we should have already had this nailed down during what should have been a monthslong planning/preparation process,” O’Scanlon said.

Murphy and Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, speaking during a Wednesday news conference, said New Jersey is trying to leap several hurdles as we speak:

Not getting what they ordered

Persichilli said that during the week of Jan. 3, the state ordered 108,625 doses of the vaccine but received 1.5 percent less than that. For the following week, the state requested 108,625 doses and expects to get 107,025, which is, again, about 1.5 percent less.

That may seem like too steep of a shortfall. But Persichilli said it's much better than the total for December, which was 18 percent less than what the state had wanted.

Hold-ups during the holidays

New Jersey developed its plan for rolling out the vaccine in December and announced it by the end of the month. But Persichilli said rolling out a massive vaccine program during the holidays "did delay people from signing up."

"So health care workers are lining up right now where they were delaying till after the holidays," she said.

That could also help explain why there's a gap in the number of vaccine doses received and doses distributed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that New Jersey has distributed 406,500 but 137,586 people have received their first dose.

Vaccine hesitancy

Persichilli also believes there is still some vaccine hesitancy, even as so many are furiously trying to preregister. Registration for the vaccination has begun, and the current link (found here) from the state Department of Health has been available.

Persichilli said the Department of Health is working with the "myths" that are typically associated with vaccines "because many individuals working in hospitals, particularly and in health care, are women of childbearing age."

Persichilli was referring to myths noted by Murphy that the vaccine can impact fertility. The other myth suggests that it impacts a person's DNA sequencing.

"We really do need to work to educate them a little bit more from what they're hearing on the internet," she said.

Getting people to administer the vaccines

New Jersey is actively looking for retired health care professionals with vaccination skills to volunteer with the New Jersey Medical Reserve Corps.

"We need you," Murphy said.

Persichilli said the people administering the vaccine need to have a clinical background that has had some type of training in giving intramuscular injections.

"So we're waiting to see how many volunteers actually have the background and are ready to be vaccinators before we move forward to any new certification programs," she said.

Persichill said many retired physicians are stepping up to act as vaccinators.

Murphy added: "These mega-sites aren't opening without proper staffing."

Reporting lag

Persichilli also believes that the numbers showing up in the state's systems are underreported.

"I can give you an example: With CVS and Walgreens, our system shows about 5,700 to 6,000 administrations, and their systems show over 15,000," she said. "We're working out some of those things."

It's all on the states

Murphy expressed his displeasure "that what we're getting is not what they said we'd get, and the burden of execution is entirely on states."

Murphy said the situation is especially true with front-line workers such as doctors and nurses because the state needs much more money and personnel to get it to those people.

"You're going to the very people to administer something who are already getting their clocks cleaned by this virus," he said. "That is not to be underestimated."

Murphy said the recently passed $908 billion stimulus bill was not enough to get the process going, "but it's a start."

He said New Jersey is trying to do all the stuff "you would expect us to do," such as deploying the National Guard and the state police to help set up a process.

"We'll do what it takes," he said. "We'll find the money, we'll find the resources. But, again, the complexity in the distribution cannot be underestimated."