Chester Mayor Shares Morris County COVID Vaccine Update

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ - As the COVID-19 vaccine continues its slow rollout through the Garden State residents continue to look for new information on where Morris County is and what is coming next.

Chester Township Mayor Marcia Asdal shared some of those answers that she gleaned from a call with County officials. Including info on:

COVID-19 Testing Center

• Testing center at County College continues to operate 9 am.m to 4 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
• They are doing about 400 tests/day with a 24-hour turnaround for results. This will continue for the foreseeable future.

Vaccination Center

• The vaccination center at Sears/Rockaway Mall is operating every day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• They have given about 1400-1800 doses/day with an average wait time of one hour; this includes a 15-30 minute observation period.
• Except for one day, there has been no waiting in lines outdoors.
• They've administered about 15,000 vaccines so far.
• The state is allocating about 50 percent of the doses it receives from the state to the mega-centers.
• Demand continues to outpace supply.
• It is recommended that eligible residents register on the Atlantic Health site rather than the NJ site. The advantage for this approach is that you will be registered and notified when appointments become available. The registration on the state's site only notifies residents when they are eligible for the vaccination; they must then still register for an appointment at the site of their choosing.
• When a resident receives the first dose at the county's mega-site, the appointment time/date is set up for the second dose.

Future Plans

• Mid to late February the doses may increase to 2400 doses/day with the doses split between the first and second doses.
• The mega-site will not be implementing a plan to vaccinate home bound residents; local health departments may be setting up procedures to address this population.
• The Washington Twp. Health Dept. is actively investigating all options to connect our residents with vaccination opportunities, including the possibility of a joint effort with neighboring municipalities. The limiting factor in all scenarios is the lack of vaccine.

Those who are willing to venture outside the area might have luck finding a vaccine. Here is a New Jersey COVID-19 vaccination guide courtesy of some collaboration with Morris School District Librarian Debra Gottsleben:

It All Starts At The Top

While there is no requirement to register with the Garden State in order to get a vaccine, it does open up more options to chase down the small supply available. Registering with the state site can be done through their website.

Those registered will receive an email from the state identifying what category they fall in. Currently, the New Jersey is vaccinating 1a and some 1b. This email alone provides nothing but information.

A second email from the state will give you a link to their scheduling system. But this is only for some state-run sites. Those who chose can sign up with outside agencies for a vaccine such as ShopRite, Atlantic Health, CVS, depending on where they live.

In all cases once the link is received it is a matter of constantly checking throughout the day. New Jersey also has a phone line to help with vaccine scheduling questions. The number is 1-855-568-0545.

Specific Locations

Acme Pharmacy

Acme is not doing COVID vaccines yet, but you can now sign up at their website to be alerted when the vaccine becomes available in your area.

ShopRite

The site is well-traveled and there is a wait to even access the site. Users are limited to searching by zip code which then defaults to a 10-mile radius search. So it is good to have some alternate zip codes available.

You can access their website for more information or call 856-627-8137 for more information.

Atlantic Health

Is asking for people to sign up for appointment alerts on their website, and then they will reach out to eligible folks in the order of their sign-up, when they have vaccine, so they can book an appointment. This solution is much more able to handle the incredible volume of folks actively looking for an appointment than the mychart option, which is used system wide for the scheduling of appointments of many types across the system, officials said.

Hackensack Meridian Health

While the website says you must be a patient, there are reports of several people who have gone to their various sites in northern New Jersey. You can try your luck through their registration process

RWJ/Barnabas

Prospective patients must register first to be on the RWJBarnabas vaccine list. Once you have registered you will be contacted on how to proceed.

Summit Medical Group

The Summit Medical Group is only vaccinating current patients. Those who qualify will receive, and have received, emails when vaccination appointments are available.

County Clusters

Atlantic County

Sign up to get an appointment at the Atlantic County megacenter through the website.

Bergen County

The Bergen County Megasite at the Meadowlands is administrated by Hackensack Meridian. Registration is done through their website.

Valley Health Systems also has their own registration portal on their website.

Burlington/ Camden County Megasite

The Moorestown site was chosen due to its proximity to Camden County. Anyone in the region can set up an appointment through the website and complete the form.

Camden County

CAMCare Health Org is taking calls at 856-583-2400.

Camden County is administering vaccines through Cooper Health and scheduling happens on their website.

Riverside Medical Group is asking established patients to register through their website.

Rowan Megasite can be accessed by registering through their website.

Cape May County

Register with the state site.

Cumberland County

To register for a vaccine in Cumberland County visit the website.

Essex County

You must be an Essex County resident or work in Essex County (part-time work is ok) to register for a vaccine in Essex County.

To register for their many locations, visit the website.

Essex County does have a help line to answer general questions about locations and how to sign up: 973-877-8456

Gloucester County

The Gloucester County Mega Vaccination Center is located at the Rowan College of South Jersey, Gloucester Campus at 1400 Tanyard Road in Sewell. To sign up for a vaccine use the state registration site. You will get an email telling you when you can try to set up an appointment.

Hudson County

The Hudson County COVID-19 vaccination site is located at the USS Juneau Center at 110 Hackensack Avenue in Kearny. This is a drive-thru site. You must remain in your vehicle in order to receive the vaccination. Advance registration for an appointment is required through the website.

Hunterdon County

Hunterdon Medical Center has a phone appointment system with priority is given to people who live or work in Hunterdon County. The number is (908) 237-4238 select option 3 to schedule. Appointments are contingent on vaccine availability.

The link to the County site for registration can be found on their website.

Mercer County

Mercer County vaccination sites are using the state of New Jersey vaccine registry (NJVSS) system to schedule residents for vaccines.

Middlesex County

Middlesex megasite is located in Edison at the NJ Convention and Exhibition Hall located at 97 Sunfield Ave. Qualified individuals can complete a vaccine registration form on RWJ BarnabasHealth’s website.

Monmouth County

To get on the Monmouth County waitlist sign up on the website.

CHEMed offers the Moderna vaccine when available at 732-523-7955.

Morris County

The options are to sign up on Atlantic Health's site to get an alert to be invited to try for a vaccine appointment or try going through ShopRite.

Riverside Medical Group at 501 State Route 10, Ledgewood is also giving inoculations.

Ocean County

CHEMed in Lakewood can be reached at 732-523-7955 or on their website.

Long Beach Island Health Department can be contacted on their website.

Passaic County

Those who live or in Passaic County can access the registration portal online.

Salem County

Check the Salem County Dept. of Health website for availability through their website.

https://health.salemcountynj.g...

Somerset County

If you live or work in Somerset County schedule a vaccine through their website.

Sussex County

To make an appointment for the Sussex County Fairgrounds, Augusta, drive through site visit the website. There does not appear to be a residency requirement.

Union County

To access Union County sign up visit the website.

Warren County

You must live, work, or go to school in Warren County to be able to receive a vaccination from a Warren County government vaccination clinic.

These sites are in Warren County but aren't part of the county system-

Hunterdon Family Medicine @Riverfield Washington, NJ 908-237-4238

St. Luke's Hosp. Phillipsburg to access vaccine appointment visit the website.

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Got photos? Please include express written permission from the photographer for us to use them. Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading, or by visiting the Google Play store.