Gloucester County's COVID-19 vaccination mega-site to inoculate 2,400 people per day

New Jersey is scaling up its capacity to administer the COVID-19 vaccines with the opening of immunization mega-sites, including one at Rowan College of South Jersey's campus.

The location in Sewell, Gloucester County, will be able to administer as many as 2,400 COVID-19 vaccine shots per day when operating at full capacity, Gov. Phil Murphy said during a briefing in Gloucester County on Monday.

Currently, this site only is giving vaccination shots to frontline health care workers and first responders, but it eventually will expand and be open to other New Jersey residents. 

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Rowan College's COVID-19 vaccination mega-site is one of six that will open in New Jersey this month. Two others will be coming to South Jersey at the Moorestown Mall in Burlington County and the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic County.

Murphy said these inoculation sites will play huge roles in the state's goal of inoculating 70% of the its adult population – or 4.7 million residents – in six months.

"Just because we have the vaccines in New Jersey doesn't mean the pandemic is over however," Murphy said. "This pandemic will be over when we defeat this virus for good, and a significant part of that requires getting millions of our fellow New Jerseyans vaccinated."

State officials hope to have as many as 300 COVID-19 vaccination sites operating at of hospitals, urgent care centers, and pharmacy chains.

COVID-19 vaccinations of staff at hospitals and staff and residents at long-term care facilities began in December. More than 214,000 New Jersey residents have received one or two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, so far, Murphy said.

It is expected that the vaccine won't be available to the general public until April or May. More than 1 million residents have registered to receive the COVID-19 vaccine once it is available to them, New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said during Monday's briefing in Gloucester County.

New Jersey recorded 5,042 new coronavirus infections on Monday, increasing the state's total to 532,959 since the pandemic began in March. The state also reported 51 more people died from COVID-19, bringing New Jersey's death toll due to the coronavirus to 17,873.