NJ Issues New COVID Vaccine Priority List; Teachers 'On Deck'

NEW JERSEY – Gov. Murphy says teachers are "on deck" for immunization now that New Jersey has released a new priority list for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Murphy, speaking with MSNBC late Thursday, suggested that teachers are likely next on the list as long as New Jersey can get more funding from the federal government to distribute the vaccine.

Murphy reiterated his point during a Friday news conference, saying: "I promise you: We (need to) get more supply."

"I'll pick our blessed, heroic educators as an example: They're on deck," he said. "We can't wait to get to the broader population.

Murphy said he's hopeful that the new Biden administration, which announced plans to pass a sizable COVID-19 financial and vaccine distribution package on Thursday, will make that happen (see the state's new vaccine plan below).

"They're in the on-deck circle," Murphy told MSNBC about teachers, "and we need the federal supply to get bigger."

During the Friday news conference, Murphy also defended New Jersey's COVID-19 vaccine priority list after lawmakers and others ripped it for prioritizing smokers over teachers. Read more: Smokers Before Teachers? NJ Defends COVID Vaccine Priorities

He also made his comments as New Jersey opened one of its six coronavirus vaccine "mega-sites" at the former Lord & Taylor store in the Moorestown Mall on Friday, according to Burlington County officials. Read more: NJ's COVID-19 Vaccine 'Megasite' Opens At Moorestown Mall

Murphy told MSNBC that he would like to extend the vaccine distribution to more people but "it's hard to be satisfied when you have supplies coming out of the feds that are a lot less than we were promised."

Murphy also said there has been "a lot of lag in the data reporting," which could explain why 654,000 doses have been reportedly sent to New Jersey but only 277,000 have been administered.

"We're not sitting on any supplies," he said. "There's no state warehouse. Every dose is at a point of distribution or at a CVS or Walgreens store."

Murphy said New Jersey has been following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines "pretty adherently in determining how to distribute the vaccine.

"We're going to get to educators I hope sooner than later and, again, more federal supply will help us get there faster," he said.

New Jersey is rolling out COVID-19 vaccines step-by-step to serve all adults who live, work, or are being educated in the state, officials said.

The state's goal is to vaccinate 70 percent of the adult population – or 4.7 million adults – within six months. While the state's current plan is highlighted below, the plan will continually be updated in response to the changing circumstances of the pandemic, officials said.

To determine which vaccination phase you are in and be notified when you are eligible for a vaccine, pre-register for the vaccine.

Who is eligible for vaccination at this time?

Currently, vaccines are available to the following groups:

Healthcare Personnel (Phase 1A)

Paid and unpaid persons serving in health care settings who have the potential for direct or indirect exposure to patients or infectious materials, including, but not limited to:

• Licensed healthcare professionals like doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and dentists
• Staff like receptionists, janitors, mortuary services, laboratory technicians
• Consultants, per diem, and contractors who are not directly employed by the facility
• Unpaid workers like health professional students, trainees, volunteers, and essential caregivers
• Community health workers, doulas, and public health professionals like Medical Reserve Corps
• Personnel with variable venues like EMS, paramedics, funeral staff, and autopsy workers
• All workers in acute, pediatric, and behavioral health hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers
• All workers in health facilities like psychiatric facilities, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and rehabs
• All workers in clinic-based settings like urgent care clinics, dialysis centers, and family planning sites
• All workers in long-term care settings like nursing homes, assisted living facilities, group homes, and others
• All workers in occupational-based healthcare settings like health clinics within workplaces, shelters, jails, colleges and universities, and K-12 schools
• All workers in community-based healthcare settings like PACE and Adult Living Community Nursing
• All workers in home-based settings like hospice, home care, and visiting nurse services
• All workers in office-based healthcare settings like physician and dental offices
• All workers in public health settings like local health departments, LINCS agencies, harm reduction centers, and medicinal marijuana programs
• All workers in retail, independent, and institutional pharmacies
• Other paid or unpaid people who work in a healthcare setting, who may have direct or indirect contact with infectious persons or materials, and who cannot work from home.

Long-Term Care Residents and Staff (Phase 1A)

All residents and staff of long-term and congregate care facilities, including:

• Skilled nursing facilities
• Veterans homes
• Group homes like residential care homes, adult family homes, adult foster homes, and intellectual and developmental disabilities group homes
• HUD 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program residences
• Institutional settings like psychiatric hospitals, correctional institutions, county jails, and juvenile detention facilities (for eligible minors, e.g. 16+ years of age may be eligible for Pfizer vaccine under the emergency use authorization)
• Other vulnerable, congregate, long-term settings

First Responders (Phase 1B)

Sworn law enforcement, firefighters, and other first responders, including:

• New Jersey State Police troopers
• Municipal and county police officers
• Campus police officers
• Detectives in prosecutors' offices and state agencies
• State agency/authority law enforcement officers (such as State Park Police and Conservation officers, Palisades Interstate Parkway officers, Human Services police, and NJ Transit police)
• Investigator, parole and secured facilities officers
• Aeronautical operations specialists
• Sworn federal law enforcement officers and special agents
• Bi-state law enforcement officers (such as the Port Authority)
• Court Security Officers
• Paid and unpaid members of firefighting services (structural and wildland)
• Paid and unpaid members of search and rescue units including technical rescue units and HAZMAT teams
• Paid and unpaid firefighters who provide emergency medical services
• Paid and unpaid members of Industrial units that perform fire, rescue and HAZMAT services
• Members of State Fire Marshal's Offices
• Bi-state fire service personnel (such as the Port Authority)

Individuals at High Risk (Phase 1B)

Individuals aged 65 and older, and individuals ages 16-64 with medical conditions, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that increase the risk of severe illness from the virus. These conditions include:

• Cancer
• Chronic kidney disease
• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• Down Syndrome
• Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
• Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher but < 40 kg/m2)
• Severe Obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2)
• Sickle cell disease
• Smoking
• Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Individuals who are pregnant and those in an immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant are also eligible but should follow CDC guidance and first discuss vaccination with their medical provider before receiving the vaccine.

If you are currently eligible, click here for more information on where to get vaccinated.

Who is eligible for vaccination next?

• Additional frontline essential workers (Phase 1B)
• Other essential workers and people living in congregate settings (Phase 1C)
• General population (Phase 2)

This group was designated as 1B, and will likely be next:

• Foodservice workers
• Port Authority workers
• New Jersey Transit workers
• Teachers, staff, and childcare workers
• Workers who support radio, print, internet and television news and media services
• Other critical workers (CISA)
• Other essential workers

This group was originally designated as 1C:

• People living or working in congregate or overcrowded settings – such as colleges and universities
• People living or working in congregate or overcrowded settings – such as migrant workers
• People living or working in congregate or overcrowded settings - other tribal populations
• Other people at high risk of COVID-19 illness due to comorbidities, occupations, demographics, etc.

NOTE: Vaccination phases are tentative and subject to change. The movement between vaccination eligibility phases may be fluid. One phase may overlap with another. Not all individuals in each phase will be vaccinated before opening to additional groups, and not all groups within a specific phase will be made eligible to receive the vaccine at the same time.

An announcement regarding when additional frontline essential workers and individuals at high risk will be eligible for the vaccine under Phase 1B and Phase 1C will be forthcoming, officials said.

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