Credit: (Sarah Blesener/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Health care workers prepare to give COVID-19 vaccinations at the Morris County vaccination site in Rockaway, Friday, Jan. 8.
As New Jersey begins the fifth week of its massive COVID-19 vaccine program, state officials have blamed shipping conundrums, workforce limitations and reporting delays for what has seemed to be the slow pace of the initial rollout.
The federal government is responsible for shipping the coronavirus vaccines to providers in each state, including more than 572,000 doses sent to New Jersey as of last Thursday, according to tracking by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of Friday, more than 175,500 vaccines had been administered (7,400 of them second doses), according to the state, which hopes to immunize 4.7 million people, or 70% of those eligible.
Some cried tears of relief. Some murmured prayers of thanks for fallen co-workers and friends. Some avoided looking at the needle about to jab their arms, while others thanked the person vaccinating them. More than 150,000 New Jersey health care workers have received their first doses of the COVID vaccine and are starting their booster shots.
For hospitals, the first New Jersey institutions to inject the COVID vaccine into the arms of their employees, the rollout has been an emotional experience and a logistical challenge. They’ve engineered new websites, carved out space and redeployed staff.
“We’ve got a lot of people to vaccinate, and everybody is going as quickly as they can to vaccinate as many people as they can,” Robert Garrett, Hackensack Meridian Health’s CEO, said of the statewide effort. The state’s goal is to inoculate 70% of the adult population 4.7 million people by the end of June.
• Fatty fish: A study from British researchers published in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that a daily dose of an omega-3 fatty acid called eicosapentaenoic acid, or EPA, helped patients with depression significantly reduce their feelings of sadness and pessimism. Hackensack Meridian Health notes that salmon, albacore tuna, sardines, trout, and anchovies are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. • Nuts and seeds: The minerals selenium, copper, magnesium, manganese, and zinc have all been linked to mental health, and nuts are rich in each of those minerals. Hackensack Meridian Health notes that almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and peanuts are particularly good sources of the immune system-boosting minerals zinc and magnesium.
No one is immune to the occasional bad
mood. Whether it’s the weather, waking up on the wrong side of the bed or
another variable, various factors can have an adverse effect on a person’s
mood.
Hudson Reporter
To build public confidence, Hackensack Meridian Health CEO gets vaccinated
Hospital participates in a trial for a new vaccine ×
Nurse Abimbola Coker administers the first shot of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine as part of the clinical trial at Hackensack Meridian Health.
Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Robert Garrett was vaccinated at Hackensack Meridian Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen on Jan. 5
Garrett later met with Hernan Lopez, a Patient Escort who was one of the first team members to receive the vaccine more than two weeks ago. Palisades Medical Center began administering the vaccine to frontline healthcare workers at the hospital on Dec. 18.