New Jersey expanding eligibility for COVID-19 vaccine to teachers, transit workers and more
(The Center Square) – New Jersey is expanding who is eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, Gov. Phil Murphy said on Monday.
Starting March 15, several hundred thousand more residents will be eligible to receive the vaccine, including Pre-K through 12th-grade teachers and school support staff, transportation workers and additional public safety officers. The state is also adding members of tribal communities and the homeless to the eligibility list.
On March 29, the state will increase eligibility to more categories, including restaurant, grocery, postal, warehouse and additional eldercare workers. It also includes members of the clergy and the judicial system.
“As vaccine supply increases, this phased expansion of new eligibility groups keeps New Jersey moving forward toward our goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the eligible adult population,” New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said in a statement.
During a Monday news briefing, Murphy said he expects schools across the Garden State will fully reopen for in-person classes this fall.
“Schools are an integral part of our communities, and everyone in the school community needs to feel safe and secure as we work to safely reopen schools,” New Jersey Department of Education Acting Commissioner Angelica Allen-McMillan said in a statement. “The expansion of vaccine eligibility being announced today is another step to demonstrate our commitment to our school staff and students, and their families.”
Shortly before Murphy’s briefing, leading Republicans accused the governor of slow-walking school reopening in the state.
“Let me make it clear: parents believe it is time to seriously move forward with respect to opening schools,” Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick, R-Union, said in a virtual news conference. “Doctors have testified; doctors believe there’s a safe way to do it. I believe that this governor has slow-walked this issue, and it is a crisis.
“We know that opening schools always will have some risk, but we balance the risk in government,” Bramnick added. “We balance the risk to children not being in person and learning versus the risk of the spread of COVID, and we believe that it’s time to take all of the energy that the governor has put into other issues and focus on getting kids back in school.”
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