Paterson giving on-site COVID-19 vaccines at public housing senior residences

Coronavirus Update New Jersey

Monday, February 8, 2021

Paterson Housing Authority Senior complexes giving on-site vaccines

Anthony Johnson reports on residents who began receiving COVID vaccinations at Paterson Housing Authority Senior complexes on Monday.

PATERSON, New Jersey (WABC) -- Residents at Paterson Housing Authority Senior complexes began receiving COVID-19 vaccinations on site Monday.

Mayor Andre Sayegh visited the Gordon Canfield Plaza Senior Residence to make the announcement, in partnership with CVS Pharmacy-Omnicare, saying the safety and wellbeing of the city's senior residents is a priority.

As they are among the most vulnerable to the coronavirus, he said, administering the vaccine is urgent.

Last week, Sayegh employed some star power while pleading for African-Americans to get vaccinated.

He was joined by Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly, Pastor Kenneth Clayton, former NFL player Leonard Marshall, and former MLB player Dwight Gooden to address the importance of the coronavirus vaccination and encourage the Black community to register for the shot.

Since Paterson has begun inoculations, the African American community has accounted for less than 5% of individuals receiving the vaccine. Statewide, only 2% of recipients are Black males.

"I got the shot, my wife got the shot, our friends are here getting the shot," Marshall said. "It's up to you to decide, are you going to be a leader or are you going to be a follower? Make the decision. Make the right choice."

Sayegh said he also wants to take the vaccine on the road to a Black church to encourage African-Americans to get the shot.

"The call to action: Come and get vaccinated," he said. "Protect yourselves. We want to live, and we want you to live too."

The event was held at International High School, the city's mass vaccination site, which has launched a hybrid appointment/walk-in approach to distribution after its first-come, first served site led to long lines of people bundled up in the cold for hours.

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Sayegh recently announced that vaccination sites across the city would be scheduling appointments between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. via the state registration portal. Then, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., the site will be open for walk-ins for Paterson residents and Paterson seniors.

Officials expect there will be roughly 75 walk-in doses available per day.

The change came after hundreds of people lined up outside International High School in hopes of getting a COVID-19 vaccine, with shots available to any eligible state resident.

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