As New Jersey is getting ready for setting its first vaccine “megasites”, state officials are looking for retired medical professionals to help administer COVID-19 vaccines to health care workers.
A report from NJ Spotlight informed that the state will open Friday the first two of six planned vaccine megasites in Gloucester and Morris counties. New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said on Monday that those operations will initially serve members of the 1a group and aim to vaccinate 1,000 people a week.
Gov. Murphy said members of the National Guard or other military branches may be deployed to help set up the immunization operations but only someone with the proper license and training can provide the shot in the arm. And that means more work for clinical staff already strained by rising COVID-19 hospitalizations and growing community spread.
Enhance the workforce
Persichilli said that in order to enhance the immunization workforce, the state Department of Health is seeking to recruit retired physicians, nurses, pharmacists, paramedics and others whose training and license enables them to immunize patients. Those who want to help are urged to sign up to volunteer through their county branch of the New Jersey Medical Reserve Corps, a 5,000-member group that can serve as a backstop during a public health crisis.
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“We do need vaccinators, particularly when we bring up all the megasites. So I encourage particularly recently retired individuals to sign up,” Persichilli said.
Gov. Phil Murphy stated that 100,000 New Jersey residents have been vaccinated so far through the state’s program, which began Dec. 15 at select hospitals and two weeks later at nursing homes under a federal partnership with pharmacy giants CVS and Walgreens.