Camden County Helps More Than 900 Seniors Get COVID Vaccine Early

CAMDEN COUNTY, NJ — More than 900 Camden County seniors have seen their appointments to get the coronavirus vaccine moved up after the launch of a county senior vaccination program, officials said on Thursday.

The project — in which the county partners with public officials and senior housing leaders to schedule appointments for seniors — launched on Feb. 6, according to Camden County Health Education Supervisor Koren Norwood.

“We are so delighted,” Norwood said during a news conference Thursday morning. “We encourage mayors to contact us with their lists of seniors because they are our vulnerable population.”

Through the program, the county trains officials on how to help get seniors registered to get vaccinated. The county defines seniors as anyone who is 65 years of age or older.

“Many times, seniors don’t have access to mobile devices, they don’t have access to computers, and even if they do, many times it’s difficult to navigate the website,” Norwood said. “We felt that having a trusted face to help that senior get registered would be an asset to this program.”

The results have shown. See related: Cherry Hill Official Offers Help To Get COVID Vaccine Appointment

“Within the last 24 hours, we were able to move up 920 seniors with appointments that were scheduled way out,” Norwood said. “September, October, some in August, we were able to move them up to earlier appointments this month.”

As of Thursday, more than 97,000 Camden County residents have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to Camden County Commissioner Jeff Nash. This includes more than 22,000 at the county’s vaccination site in the Papiano Gym at Camden County College, 200 College Drive in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township.

As more vaccines become available, more residents will see their appointments moved up, Nash said. And as more people get vaccinated, the number of new cases continues to drop. On Thursday, 67 new coronavirus cases were reported in Camden County.

There were 670 new cases reported all of last week, down from 721 the previous week, Nash said. It's a far cry from the 2,100 reported the first week of January, he said.

“With nearly 100,000 vaccinations administered throughout Camden County, we are steadily achieving a safer, more protected community,” Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said in a release. “We still have a long way to go before we are able to safely consider COVID-19 a dormant threat, but we are no doubt in a better place than we were just a few short months ago. If we continue to wear masks, social distance, and work with contact tracers, we can keep our cases down and protect those around us.”

Camden County's four-lane vaccination site is open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is supported by volunteers from Cooper University Health Care, Jefferson Health — New Jersey, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, and Rutgers College of Nursing, who will distribute the Moderna Vaccie. To register for a vaccination, visit www.CamdenCountyVaccine.com.

For more on New Jersey’s coronavirus vaccination efforts, click here.

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.
Officials note that Garden State residents will not be able to receive a vaccine if any of these conditions apply on the day of appointment:

• If you have experienced any of the following symptoms in the past 48 hours: fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
• If, within the past 14 days, you have been in close physical contact (six feet or closer for a cumulative total of 15 minutes) with someone who has laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 or COVID-19 symptoms.
• If you are isolating or quarantining because you may have been exposed to a person with COVID-19 or are worried that you may be sick with COVID-19.
• If you are currently waiting on the results of a COVID-19 test.

Anyone that falls under these categories are asked to cancel their appointment.