Sussex County Weekly COVID-19 Vaccine Update: The Latest Numbers

SUSSEX COUNTY, NJ - The rate of COVID-19 vaccinations continues to increase in the Garden State as the much-maligned roll out continues. Last week, officials unveiled a vaccine tracker to keep current on how many full vaccinated residents are in New Jersey and next week the eligibility will open up further.

The New Jersey Department of Health has logged 5,738,371 vaccine doses administered as of 5 p.m. Thursday, including 3,644,419 who have received both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine and 2,334,968 fully vaccinated people.

In Sussex County the breakdown is 88,618 doses administered which is segmented into 55,594 first doses and 35,921 second doses.

As of April 5, here is the list of who is eligible to book vaccine appointments:

• Food production, agriculture and food distribution (including grocery store and restaurant workers)
• Eldercare and support
• Warehousing and logistics
• Social services support staff
• Elections personnel
• Hospitality
• Medical supply chain
• Postal and shipping services
• Clergy
• Judicial system
• Paid and unpaid healthcare workers
• Residents and workers of long-term care and high-risk congregate care facilities
• First responders including sworn law enforcement and fire professionals
• Individuals aged over 65
• Individuals aged 16-64 that have certain medical conditions that increase the risk of severe illness from the virus
• Pre-K to 12 educators and staff
• Childcare workers in licensed and registered settings
• Transportation workers
• Additional high-risk individuals
• Additional public safety workers
• Individuals 55 and over
• Individuals ages 16 and up with intellectual and developmental disabilities
• Educators, including support staff, in higher education settings
• Communications infrastructure support, including engineers, and technicians and members of the press
• Real estate, building, and home service workers, including construction workers, code officials, plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, property management and maintenance workers
• Retail financial institution workers, including bank tellers, lending services, public accounting and check-cashing workers
• Sanitation workers providing disinfection and janitorial services, city sanitation workers; residential, commercial, and industrial solid and hazardous waste removal workers
• Laundry service workers, including those working in laundromats, laundry services and dry cleaners
• Utility workers including electrical generation and supply system, natural gas delivery, nuclear power plant, water supply, telephone and cable/fiber/optical/broadband/cellular service workers
• Librarians and support staff at municipal, county and state libraries

Other Ways To Find Appointments

Patch has gathered tips that may help for securing vaccine appointments and websites with additional information:

• Join the New Jersey Covid Vaccine Info Facebook group. The group gives New Jerseyans the opportunity to share up-to-date information on vaccine availability.
• Follow VaxxUpdates on Twitter. The page helps Garden State residents secure vaccine appointments with instant updates on availability.
• CVS and Rite Aid began scheduling COVID-19 appointments at locations that will receive vaccines. But appointments fill up quickly. CVS, Rite Aid and Walmart have expanded their number of sites. Read more: CVS Adding 30 COVID-19 Vaccine Sites In New Jersey
• CentraState Healthcare System in Freehold periodically opens registration. They will email a link when you're eligible for an appointment.
• Check out the COVID-19 Vaccine Registration FAQ from RWJBarnabas Health.
You can sign up at their website to be alerted when the vaccine becomes available in your area.
• ShopRite sometimes has a wait time to access its vaccine scheduler, but it allows the public to make appointments.
• New Jersey opened up its own COVID-19 Vaccine Appointment Finder. The beta version is available now, but officials say it will improve and become more useful as supply creeps up to meet demand.

For more vaccine information, visit our New Jersey COVID-19 Vaccination Hub.

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