TRENTON, NJ – The switchboards in Trenton are lighting up, Governor Phil Murphy said as the supply of COVID-19 vaccines from the Biden administration are starting to dry up. The New Jersey Governor said the state received 17,000 calls and people are starting to get frustrated. In Ocean County, county health officials have stopped taking new appointments and are now restricting vaccines to residents only.
“Because of the scarcity of vaccine supply, we know there are limited appointments available and we ask all callers for patience. Now, we expected a lot of people calling,” Murphy said. “They did. I’d say two things. The first hour the number was up, 17,000 calls came in. So, you know, there’s a lot of pent-up demand, obviously. And by the way, on the website I’ve checked, Judy, in terms of preregistrations, 2,098,659. So please, we would ask you to have patience. I know already that hundreds of folks have been pre-registered via the phone as we sit here at one o’clock today, in the first five hours of its operation. I’m told over 500, if not more. Again, the number is 855-568-0545. And of course, our online information hub, covid19.NJ.gov/vaccine remains fully functional to provide answers to many of your questions or to take the steps for scheduling a vaccination.”