Vaccinations begin at troubled NJ veterans home, state registration site goes live

Coronavirus Update New Jersey

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Vaccinations begin at veterans home in NJ amid investigation

Medical staff is giving out the shots at the veterans home, which along with two other state-run facilities was the epicenter of a crisis that included the deaths of more than 200

NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- Coronavirus vaccinations began Tuesday at a veterans home in New Jersey where more than 60 residents died from COVID-19, this as the state's new vaccine website went live.

Medical staff is giving out the shots at the Menlo Park Veterans Memorial Home in Edison, which along with two other state-run facilities was the epicenter of a crisis that included the deaths of more than 200 residents.

The state attorney general's office has convened a grand jury to investigate, and a subpoena sent to the facilities asked for documents covering a range of topics from infection control to staffing.

Meanwhile, the state's new website allows people to pre-register even if they are not currently eligible to be vaccinated.

Currently, the state is only vaccinating healthcare workers and nursing home residents and staff, classified as 1A.

CLICK HERE to access the site.

New Jersey has administered more than 100,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines out of about 400,000 received so far, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday.

Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said a lag in reporting -- particularly among psychiatric facilities -- partly explains why there's such a gap, but she also noted that department officials were hearing anecdotally that people didn't want to risk taking the vaccine before the holidays in case there were negative side effects.

The news came as health care workers in New Jersey who were the first in the state to get the COVID-19 vaccine received their second doses Monday.

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