Here's Which Maplewood Residents Can Get Vaccinated Saturday

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Covid-19 vaccination is set to begin soon at five vaccination centers in Essex County. The vaccination center location for Maplewood residents will be at Livingston Mall, set to open this Saturday and future Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The vaccine that will be administered at the vaccination center will be the Moderna vaccine which will be administered in two doses. The two doses must be administered at a minimum of 28 days apart.

Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, including the Moderna vaccine, are a new type of vaccine that doesn't include the weakened virus, but rather, teaches human cells to make a protein that triggers the immune response (read more about that here).

As of Christmas Eve, nearly 327,000 Americans had died from coronavirus. (See which states are experiencing the highest death tolls on this CDC map.)

While other meausures such as wearing a mask and social distancing have helped control the spread of the virus, being vaccinated can help limit the spread of the virus further.

At this time, only adults aged 18 and over will be eligible to receive the vaccine.

Initially, the vaccine will only be available in a limited supply therefore the vaccine will be administered in phase groups. The order is:

Phase 1A- Healthcare workers and long-term care facilities
Phase 1B- Other essential workers
Phase 1C- Adults 65 and over and those with underlying medical conditions
Phase 2- General public

The vaccine will be offered at no cost to those who don’t have medical insurance. Those that have medical insurance will be asked to provide their insurance information, however there will be no charge to those with medical insurance as well.

If you are interested in receiving a Covid-19 vaccine at the vaccination center you must make an appointment. To make an appointment visit essexcovid.org or call 973-877-8456. Since the vaccine is administered in two doses, you will be scheduled for two appointments to receive each dose.

More information about Covid-19 vaccination is available at the New Jersey Department of Health’s website at nj.gov/health and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s website at cdc.gov.

Death toll trends in New Jersey

Last week, New Jersey reached its highest death toll in six months from the virus, or 97 people in one day.

At the height of the crisis in New Jersey, when testing and PPE were scarce, 460 people died from the virus in 24 hours on April 30.

The death rate had, for several months, been plummeting as people stayed inside and took precautions. Back on Sept. 8, the state announced two new deaths confirmed in 24 hours.
But deaths began rising again with gatherings, reopenings, and travel to states with higher transmission.

Doctors have said that a number of factors are contributing to the fact that the daily death rate is still lower than spring, including people getting test results (and thus treatment) sooner, more protective equipment available in hospitals, and doctors becoming better able to treat the virus. However, the virus still can have long-term effects.

In total, more than 16,000 people in New Jersey have now passed away from the virus.

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