Gov. Murphy: NJ Opening 6 COVID Vaccine 'Megasites:' Here's Where

NEW JERSEY — Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Friday that New Jersey plans to open six vaccine "megasites" in January in its effort to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to residents who want them, starting with the state's health care workers and first responders.

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

"This allows us to put the infrastructure in place to administer the vaccine to every resident who wishes to be vaccinated," Murphy 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 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.

Read more: Here's Who Is Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine First In New Jersey

Here are the locations:

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

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.

Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said there have been 215 facilities that have signed up to be satellite vaccination sites already, a number that is expected to grow.

The priority remains vaccinating health care workers, along with staff and residents of long-term care facilities — more than 650,000 people are in those categories, she said. As of Friday, just a fraction — 2,149 health care workers — have received the first dose of the vaccine, Persichilli said.

"We need them on the job to care for the increasing number of patients in our hospitals," Persichilli said.

Vaccinations for staff and residents of long-term care facilities are expected to begin Dec. 28, Murphy said, in partnership with the CDC, CVS and Walgreens.

Much of the timing of all of the vaccinations depends on the amount of vaccine doses New Jersey receives, Persichilli said.

New Jersey has seen a reduction in the initial number of doses it was told it would receive, which Murphy noted has happened to every state.

Perschilli said the number of doses was cut by a third — New Jersey now is set to receive a combined 392,800 doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, down from 492,075 that originally were promised. The Moderna vaccine has received the approval of the FDA review panel and was just awaiting the final emergency use approval from the agency as of Friday evening.

Persichilli said providers seeking to be satellites must go through an extensive process to become vaccination satellite sites, but expects the number of sites to increase as time goes on.

"With each successive wave (of residents receiving the vaccine) we will get closer to being able to open our vaccination sites to the general public," Murphy said.

The Morris County Board of Freeholders issued a statement Friday afternoon saying the county's megasite is a partnership with Atlantic Health System as well as the state.

"By launching this massive vaccination center in our backyard, we will bring the vaccine not only to Morris County residents, but also to our neighbors and families throughout North Jersey as we continue to fight this deadly virus," the freeholders said. "This is a unique opportunity for Morris County to help bring the vaccine to thousands of people daily and to be an integral part of a national endeavor that, we pray, will one day restore normalcy to the daily lives of all Americans."

Information on how the general public can sign up to be vaccinated will be distributed as the state gets closer to offering it to the general public.

"We need millions of you to step forward and raise your sleeves," Murphy said.