TRENTON, N.J. – The Murphy Administration held a remote COVID-19 briefing via Zoom on Monday, and among other topics on the agenda was the state’s preliminary plans for a COVID-19 vaccine which, officials hope, arrives sooner rather than later.
State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli told journalists that the Murphy Administration hopes to vaccinate 70% of New Jersey’s entire population within the first six months of the vaccine’s availability. She does not anticipate, however, that the vaccine will ever become mandatory for the general population.
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The 182-page plan is ambitious.
New Jersey would need to vaccinate 81,000 per day, 5 day per week to achieve that goal. Murphy also insisted federal funds will be necessary to get it done, and he vowed to push back against “conspiracy theories.”
“We cannot let the online rumors and social-media-driven conspiracy theories jeopardize our ability to build statewide immunity against this deadly virus,” Murphy said during the briefing. “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. We are committed to building trust in the vaccines in all our communities, and we will not wait until we receive the vaccines to start that process.”
“If we, based on all the experts, conclude beyond any reasonable doubt that this is safe and efficacious and it can be scaled and delivered in the proper way, we need folks to do their part,” Murphy added. “We will not put anything on the street that we can’t say all those things about.”
While the state may not impose a blanket vaccine mandate, it is possible that public schools, daycares, and many employeers will insist upon vaccination.
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