NJ officials create initial draft of statewide coronavirus vaccination plan

Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) announced on Monday New Jersey officials have submitted an initial draft of the state’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination strategy to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The three strategic aims of the plan include providing equitable access to a vaccine, achieving maximum community protection and building public trust in the COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines, he said. Officials hope to vaccinate at least 70 percent of eligible adults in New Jersey. 

Murphy said the state began considering the best way to distribute vaccines at the start of the pandemic. Creating a plan became a higher priority in July, when the state’s Vaccine Task Force began working alongside the state’s general COVID-19 Task Force, CDC, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other vaccine experts.

"This is not a plan that was thrown together quickly as some vaccines have entered their final testing phase,” he said. “This is the product of months of collaboration among ... the Office of Emergency Management, other state agencies, representatives from state and local health departments and certainly the Department of Health.”

The plan is designed to address any challenges that would come with any approved vaccine, including logistics, distribution, prioritization, vaccination, public outreach and confidence building, he said. The plan also draws on lessons from the state’s childhood immunization programs as well as the response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza. 

Murphy said the plan is still only a draft and will be refined as more information becomes available from sources such as vaccine developers and the federal government.

“With the growing reality that one or more vaccines are merely months, and not years, away, this work has taken on greater urgency,” he said. “I am proud to say these four words: We will be ready.”

The vaccination program will use data to prioritize those at highest risk of infection, those who would benefit the most from early inoculation and vulnerable communities, Murphy said.

Murphy said some racial and ethnic groups, socioeconomic classes and different age groups, have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The plan was designed to address the needs of these communities, considering initial vaccines may only come in a limited amount, he said.

“Even if there is enough to meet an initial public need, a proper vaccination program is a long-term proposition,” he said. “We will work to quickly move across population segments and deliver vaccines into the communities that were hardest hit, not just those that are easiest to reach.”

Murphy said New Jersey’s vaccination program will be supported and coordinated at the state level but delivered by local partners, such as health departments, federally qualified health centers, hospitals, pharmacies and other organizations, he said.

The state will also work with healthcare providers and community leaders to distribute clear, easily understood information regarding the vaccine, he said. 

“We cannot let the online rumors and social media-driven conspiracy theories jeopardize our ability to build statewide immunity against the deadly virus,” he said. “We know from public polling that there is already growing skepticism of a vaccine, and in the face of this virus that skepticism could prove to be as deadly as the virus itself.”

Murphy said the state does not want to rush the approval process for new vaccines and said state health officials will review the science behind the various vaccines to ensure they are safe for the public.

In order to achieve the ultimate goal of a 70 percent vaccination rate, Murphy said the state will require federal funding to support its vaccination strategy. He said federal officials have made no indication of providing additional support for any individual states or a national, state-based vaccination program.

Murphy said the concerns surrounding COVID-19 should also encourage the public to get vaccinated for other diseases to strengthen the state’s overall public health. 

“We can’t ultimately win the war against COVID-19 only to find another virus sneaking up behind it,” he said.