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Rebecca Bryan of Rutgers School of Nursing sits with 86-year-old Turner Pittman for 15 minutes after inoculating him with the COVID-19 vaccine at his apartment in Westfield Towers, Camden, N.J. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
News that New Jersey was going to follow the federal government’s recommendation and pause use of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine came as health officials had begun to ramp up efforts to inoculate the state’s more than 11,000 homebound people.
Until Tuesday, state and county health officials had relied heavily on the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine to reach people like Camden resident Deloris Barham, who, with help from her nurse, walked across the street from her home at the Baldwin’s Run Senior community complex on Friday to get her shot despite her dislike of needles.
Thousands of South Jersey residents are receiving COVID-19 vaccinations thanks to the volunteer service of Rutgers University‒Camden nursing faculty and students who have been on the front line of this massive effort since New Jersey began receiving doses of the vaccine in January.
Nearly 400 Rutgers School of Nursing‒Camden students are assisting at the Camden County vaccination center in Blackwood, checking in community members, answering questions, and administering the Moderna vaccine.
Johnnet Reeves hopes her decision to be inoculated will inspire other people to get vaccinated.
Most of the Rutgers–Camden nursing students had been taking virtual classes since the pandemic began, but now they have an opportunity to help contain the virus’s spread, while getting hands-on experience and fulfilling clinical rotation and volunteer requirements.