Phil Murphy announced expansion of the COVID-19 vaccine eligibility

Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday morning that New Jersey teachers, child care and transportation workers will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine starting March 15.

According to nj.com, the governor said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” that to have those people vaccinated was “an imperative.” “We’re phasing it in over a couple of weeks because we already have a supply-demand imbalance,” the governor said, adding that other essential workers are expected to be added to the eligibility list by the end of March.

Murphy also posted a Tweet indicating the new group would include “additional public safety workers.”

“We’re phasing it in over a couple of weeks because we already have a supply-demand imbalance,” the governor said, adding that other essential workers are expected to be added to the eligibility list by the end of March.

“At the head of that list will be educators and folks in day care,” Murphy said. “We’ve got a whole game plan.”

The expanded group includes “pre-K to 12 educators & support staff,” according to Murphy’s Tweet.

One-dose vaccine

New Jersey is expecting an initial shipment of 73,600 doses of Johnson & Johnson’s new one-dose vaccine within days, Murphy said. The same amount is expected in subsequent weeks. Federal health officials approved the use of the latest COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday. The Governor said he expects that anyone who wants a vaccine would be eligible “several months from now.”

You can read: New Jersey has a vaccine phone line for answering questions

Last month, Murphy announced people older than 65 and people between ages 16 and 64 who have certain medical conditions were eligible for vaccinations.

There are about 4.47 million who meet vaccination eligibility beginning at that time: Two million smokers, 1.47 million people older than 65 and up to 1 million people with other chronic illnesses.

The state has administered nearly 2 million COVID-vaccine doses as of Saturday, including 1,295,891 first doses and 663,855 second doses, according to state data. The state has received more than 2.5 million doses from the federal government, according to the Centers for Disease Control.