NJ COVID Updates: Vaccine Eligibility Increases; Record the number of cases; The gun allows the tip. What would you like to know. (January 14, 2020)

Millions more people in New Jersey are now eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19 following an announcement by Governor Phil Murphy expanding the deployment on Wednesday.

People who live, work or study in New Jersey and are 65 years of age or older can now be scheduled to get the vaccine, the governor said. Smokers as well as people 16 to 64 years old with certain medical conditions are also eligible for the vaccine.

There are an estimated 4.47 million people who qualify for vaccination as of Thursday: two million smokers, 1.47 million people over 65 and up to 1 million people affected. other chronic diseases.

People are always encouraged to pre-register on the state’s website. Residents who have pre-registered with the state should be notified of when to make an appointment, Murphy said. The state will then provide a link where you can select a vaccine location and then schedule an appointment with the facility’s website.

More than 1.2 million people had pre-registered on the state website on Wednesday,

There were 3,638 people in the state’s 71 hospitals with the coronavirus or one case under investigation at 10 p.m. Wednesday, down 88 from 3,726 in the previous 24-hour period.

Hospitalizations have ranged from approximately 3,500 to 3,800 for over a month.

Murphy on Wednesday revealed 6,922 more cases of COVID-19 – a one-day record – and 95 more deaths.

The seven-day average for new confirmed cases rose to 5,679 on Wednesday, up 22% from a week ago and 18% from a month ago. This is the highest seven-day average for the outbreak to date, although the lack of testing in the spring likely underestimated the extent of infections in the first wave.

At 277,118 doses of the vaccine were administered in New Jersey shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday, the latest update provided by the state on its dashboard. Of the vaccinations, 245,785 were first doses. Moderna and Pfizer vaccinations each require two injections.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracking | Bulletin | Home page

Here’s a roundup of the latest coronavirus news in New Jersey and beyond:

Time to let NJ teachers get their COVID shots, lawmakers say: New Jersey can’t wait to start vaccinating its teachers against the coronavirus and should expand eligibility as soon as possible, two Republican lawmakers said Wednesday.

The state is already vaccinating healthcare workers, residents of nursing homes as well as police, firefighters and prisoners.

Educators in New Jersey are in phase 1b of the state’s immunization program, a group that also includes first responders, food service workers, day care workers, and transit workers.

Applications for NJ pistol permits are booming. How fear spawned unprecedented demand: New Jersey is seeing an unprecedented surge in gun license applications and gun purchases, according to state statistics and gun store owners. All over the state, from towns like Hoboken to suburban towns like The Brick, locals are coming out in droves to buy guns. This causes significant delays in the law enforcement background check process, and gun stores cannot keep their shelves stocked.

According to the New Jersey State Police, 442,214 handgun license applications were filed in 2020. That’s a staggering 332% increase from the 102,270 filed in 2019.

The New Jersey prison with the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the country is expected to get vaccinated next week: Fort Dix federal prison, which currently has the most positive coronavirus cases of any federal correctional facility, is expected to receive the COVID-19 vaccine next week, NJ Advance Media has learned.

James Reiser, the prison’s case management coordinator, said in a court document Wednesday that the prison expects to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on January 19. It will be administered according to Bureau of Prisons policy, although it is not clear. how many doses the prison will initially receive, Reiser said.

The NJ School District plans to stay virtual for the rest of the school year due to COVID: Hillside public schools will remain remote for the remainder of the school year due to the coronavirus, Acting Superintendent Robert Gregory told parents on Tuesday in a letter.

The plan will remain unless coronavirus trends move in a better direction or there is new legislation, decree or state guidance, the letter says.

This is the first district that NJ Advance Media has learned it plans to stay away from throughout the year.

Only 15% of the COVID NJ vaccine saved for long-term care was used: When state officials announced that residents and long-term care staff would be among the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, it made sense to reserve 215,000 doses from the federal government’s weekly shipments for this purpose.

But a month after New Jersey received its first vaccine shipments and two and a half weeks after nursing home vaccinations began, only 15% of that vaccine came out of the freezer and entered someone’s arm. .

COVID fears schools will cancel winter sports. Here is the latest list: While indoor winter sports are expected to begin, at least 14 schools in New Jersey have canceled, delayed or limited their seasons due to safety concerns for their student-athletes during the coronavirus pandemic.

Burlington City was the first canceled in October and the list went double digits this week as basketball, bowling and fencing practices began on Monday.

Respected NJ policeman dies after “ valiant fight ” against COVID, officials said: A Newark police officer died of complications from the coronavirus on Wednesday, marking the seventh member of the state’s largest local police force to succumb to the virus, his family and officials said.

Officer Hector Moya was 55 years old. He served in the Newark Police Force for over two decades.

American cases: At least 84,784 of the estimated 23.1 million who test positive for the coronavirus in the United States died at 7 a.m. Thursday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Global cases: At 7 a.m. on Thursday, the coronavirus caused an estimated 1.98 million deaths in 191 counties, according to the center. More than 92.4 million have been infected since the epidemic began in December 2019. At least 51.1 million have recovered.

NJ Advance Media staff editors Matt Arco, Joe Atmonavage, Karin Price Mueller, Adam Clark, Brent Johnson, Alex Napoliello, and Rebecca Panico contributed to this report.

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