Senator Christopher Connors, Assemblyman Brian Rumpf, and Assemblywoman DiAnne Gove called out Governor Murphy’s Administration for cutting vaccine doses to Ocean County, as the County Health Department is set to receive 400 fewer doses from the previous week, despite the County’s considerable senior population and high demand for the vaccine.
“The Murphy Administration’s misguided decision to cut Ocean County’s vaccine supply is yet another example of the state’s failed COVID vaccination policies that is undermining the public’s trust in the process. Seniors and veterans deserve priority treatment and the state formula should account for this to allow for more vaccine to be released to Ocean County.
“Initially, residents were told by the state that health care workers and then seniors were to be prioritized in the vaccine rollout process. Seniors were forced to stay on their computers for hours each day to schedule a vaccine appointment under that expectation.
“Then Governor Murphy upended the rollout process by arbitrarily opening vaccine eligibility to hundreds of thousands of more residents, including smokers and obese individuals. Compounding this error, Trenton gave other areas of the state more, namely urban areas, which were given special status as vaccine distribution sites. Again, this meant Ocean County’s pressing needs with a high senior population were being deprioritized, leaving many to believe that the Murphy Administration is playing games with the vaccine distribution process.
“Ocean County’s seniors have every right to feel betrayed as for many individuals this is, literally, an issue of life and death. Accordingly, our delegation is calling on Governor Murphy to immediately restore Ocean County’s vaccine supply in view of the seniors and veterans living in the County who still have not been vaccinated. This would be consistent with the plan that the state initially sold to the public in that seniors, especially those with underlying conditions, were to be prioritized.”
To more effectively represent their constituents, members of the 9th District delegation serve, respectively, on the Assembly Health Committee and the Assembly Aging and Senior Services Committee.