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Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday fended off criticism that the state included around 2 million smokers in the grand expansion of coronavirus vaccine eligibility that began on Thursday, while leaving out certain essential worker groups like teachers.
The governor, speaking at his regular COVID-19 briefing, said he rejected the “false narrative” that smokers were skipping the line as a “cheap shot”, and noted that the state followed federal guidelines including smokers.
“I get it. I understand the perspective here and that attacking people who have taken up the habit of smoking and are now addicted can be politically expedient,” Murphy said.
“But at the moment, we are stuck in a position where we have to prioritize our limited doses of vaccines based on medical facts and not political desire,” he said. “We cannot lose sight of a critical medical fact that this is a respiratory virus. Smoking like other chronic and medical conditions puts someone at higher risk. In this we agree with the guidelines of the CDC. “
He added, “We need to protect our hospitals from a surge of patients.”
Starting Thursday, people 65 and older became eligible for the vaccine as part of a massive expansion of Murphy’s program. People between the ages of 14 and 64 with chronic diseases, including smoking, have also been added to the list of people who can get vaccinated.
Previously, healthcare workers, people living and working in nursing homes, and police and firefighters were the only people who could get vaccinated.
This means that around 4 million people out of 9 million inhabitants are now eligible for the vaccine.
Many teachers are upset that smokers had access to the vaccine before educators, according to union leaders.
“A lot of people have kind of reacted to the smoking part,” said Anthony Rosamilia, president of the Essex County Education Association. “If at this point in 2021 you don’t know how dangerous smoking is and you still choose to smoke and that puts you in front of someone who doesn’t – it’s not just the educators, I think the general public is not happy about this. “
But demand continues to far outstrip supply with around 100,000 doses delivered to New Jersey each week.
More than 300,000 doses of the vaccine were administered in the state as of Friday morning, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard. Of those, 273,335 was the first of two doses people will receive, while 37,077 was the second dose, according to the dashboard.
The one-day high so far was Jan.8, when 24,482 doses were administered, according to the state.
New Jersey averaged about 10,000 injections per day for the first 30 days of the program, including Christmas Day when no doses were given. The state has carried out an average of 17,000 shots per day over the past seven days, according to state records.
The state has been criticized for rolling out vaccinations too slowly. Officials point out that there may be an undercoverage in the number of vaccines given due to reporting delays and that New Jersey, like other states, depends on the federal government for its supply.
Officials said the doses should be available to the general public by April or May. Health officials have said they hope to vaccinate 70% of its adult residents – about 4.7 million people – by the end of May.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracking | Bulletin | Home page
New Jersey health officials reported 5,490 new confirmed cases of coronavirus and 67 additional deaths on Friday, as vaccination spots reported a sharp increase in appointments with the widening of eligibility that began a day earlier.
New Jersey’s top health official warned on Wednesday the state was bracing for a “surge” in hospitalizations due to the latest peak cases that could occur as early as next week and could trigger a new round of restrictions, in especially with elective surgeries.
While hospitalizations remained between 3,500 and 3,900 for weeks, well below the peak of more than 8,000 in the spring, Department of Health commissioner Judy Persichilli said hospital officials are concerned about the weeks to come due to available staff.
“We are preparing for the predictive surge which could start as early as next week in mid-February,” Persichilli said Wednesday.
“What we won’t have is the appropriate level of staffing that people know about, conventional staffing,” she said. “So we’ll be working with our hospitals if they need to move to what we call emergency staffing and hopefully never crisis staffing.”
Murphy warned that hospitalizations greater than 5,000 patients would likely trigger new restrictions – particularly on elective surgeries, which include procedures such as tumor removal.
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Matt Arco can be reached at [email protected].
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