Paterson resuming Covid-19 vaccination on Wednesday after brief closure due to vaccine shortage
By Jayed Rahman
Published: January 13, 2021
After receiving a shipment of 2,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine, health officials intend to resume Covid-19 vaccination at International High School on Wednesday morning.
Health official received their weekly allocation, 2,000 doses, on Tuesday morning. They had requested 4,000 doses, but were granted half by the New Jersey Department of Health.
The site had to close on Monday morning after running out of doses. A spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Health said the state’s “vaccine supply is limited” at the time.
New Jersey is lagging behind other states in administering the vaccines. Paterson closing its vaccination site for almost two days did not help the state.
New Jersey received 572,250 Covid-19 vaccines, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It has given 219,126 first doses and 24,532 second doses, administering a total of 243,734 vaccines, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.
Mayor Andre Sayegh has said he wants the state to allocate more vaccines to the city. Firefighters and police officers from all over New Jersey have been getting vaccinated at International High School.
International High School has the capacity to vaccinate 1,000 people per day.
Paterson received 1,600 Moderna vaccines in batches since December 28. It has administered all of them.
Health officer Paul Persaud has said he is loath to keep vaccines in fridges while the virus claims lives.
Paterson has been hit hard by the pandemic. 443 residents have died of Covid-19.
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