New Jersey set up a vaccine phone line on Monday morning which provides callers with information concerning the places where to get it and the eligibility of the patients. The number of the hotline service is 855-568-0545 and it has 250 agents ready respond to calls.
The vaccine phone line is operative from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. every day.
As informed by an abc7 report, during the first hour alone, the hotline received 17,000 calls. By noon, the hotline had received more than 58,000 calls.
Meanwhile, Gov. Phil Murphy said he will continue to ensure an equitable distribution of the COVID vaccine across the state. Because of vaccine shortages, the 24 /7 Gloucester mega vaccination site at Rowan College is closed Monday. Vaccinations are expected to resume Tuesday.
You can read: U.S. will request negative COVID-19 test for all international travelers
Murphy said the state is still in need of more federal assistance as the state tries to keep up with the demand for the shots.
A game-changer
He said that the vaccine phone line will be a game-changer for residents. “I’m confident the Biden administration will work through this over the course of weeks. But we have well over 2 million people who have already pre-registered for the vaccine. And we have heard from our seniors, many of whom don’t have access to the internet. So, that’s not an option for them. So that’s why opening up this call center at 8am tomorrow is hopefully going to be a game-changer for them in particular,” Murphy said.
The vaccine phone line launching occurs as many people have started to get their second dose of the Moderna vaccine over the weekend. With the state’s positivity rate being just over 10%, second doses become that more important.