Cherry Hill Official Offers Help To Get COVID Vaccine Appointment

CHERRY HILL, NJ — The coronavirus is an illness that is particularly dangerous for older people, but it is proving difficult for those same older people to get an appointment to get vaccinated, a Cherry Hill Township official pointed out Monday night. She's offering to help them get an appointment.

“Registering for the vaccine is certainly not user-friendly, especially if you are older and do not have someone in your family to help you do that,” Cherry Hill Councilwoman Carole Roskoph said during Monday night’s meeting. “This is not a process that takes our elderly population into consideration, and they are the population that needs it the most.”

Since the pandemic began, 95,848 Americans nationwide between the ages of 75 and 84 have died after testing positive for the coronavirus as of Thursday morning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Another 73,856 deaths were among Americans between 65 and 74 years old. By contrast, there have been a little more than 56,000 deaths among Americans ages 45-64 years old.

And yet, now that two coronavirus vaccines are available in New Jersey, registrations to get an appointment take place online, using technology older citizens generally have difficulty using.

“It took me, my son and my sister-in-law, all three of us, to get my mother registered for a vaccine,” Roskoph said. “So I am going to ask all of us in the community, if you know some of your neighbors may be older and may not be able to navigate the technology to get registered for a vaccine, please reach out to them and ask if they need help.”

She also invited anyone who doesn’t have family who can help to call Patti Chacker, senior aide to the mayor, at 856-488-7878.

“Patti if you could collect their information and give it to me, I will reach out to them myself and help them get registered,” Roskoph said. “I did speak to one of my neighbors. I know there’s an issue of confidentiality for some of the information, and her answer to me was, ‘honey, I give that information out over the phone every time I make a doctor’s appointment. So I do know that they would appreciate the help. I do know that they need the help, some of them.”

She also reminded all residents that they don’t have to stay in Camden County, where it can be difficult to get an appointment, to get vaccinated. Read more here: Gloucester Twp. Site Seeing 5K Fewer Vaccine Doses Than Expected

“You can go to Burlington County,” Roskoph said. “My neighbor went this weekend to Salem County. She got an appointment on Thursday for Saturday morning. You do not have to stay in Camden County, where it’s really difficult right now to find an appointment.”

As of Thursday morning, 4,316 Cherry Hill residents have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began. Earlier this week, it was announced that two Cherry Hill women in their 90s recently died after testing positive for the disease.

Anyone can pre-register to get vaccinated, even if they don't qualify for a vaccine yet, by visiting covidvaccinenj.gov.

Who is eligible for vaccination at this time?
Currently, vaccines are available to the following groups:

Healthcare Personnel (Phase 1A)

Paid and unpaid persons serving in health care settings who have the potential for direct or indirect exposure to patients or infectious materials, including, but not limited to:

• Licensed healthcare professionals like doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and dentists

• Staff like receptionists, janitors, mortuary services, laboratory technicians

• Consultants, per diem, and contractors who are not directly employed by the facility

• Unpaid workers like health professional students, trainees, volunteers, and essential caregivers

• Community health workers, doulas, and public health professionals like Medical Reserve Corps

• Personnel with variable venues like EMS, paramedics, funeral staff, and autopsy workers

• All workers in acute, pediatric, and behavioral health hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers

• All workers in health facilities like psychiatric facilities, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and rehabs

• All workers in clinic-based settings like urgent care clinics, dialysis centers, and family planning sites

• All workers in long-term care settings like nursing homes, assisted living facilities, group homes, and others

• All workers in occupational-based healthcare settings like health clinics within workplaces, shelters, jails, colleges and universities, and K-12 schools

• All workers in community-based healthcare settings like PACE and Adult Living Community Nursing

• All workers in home-based settings like hospice, home care, and visiting nurse services

• All workers in office-based healthcare settings like physician and dental offices

• All workers in public health settings like local health departments, LINCS agencies, harm reduction centers, and medicinal marijuana programs

• All workers in retail, independent, and institutional pharmacies

• Other paid or unpaid people who work in a healthcare setting, who may have direct or indirect contact with infectious persons or materials, and who cannot work from home.

Long-Term Care Residents and Staff (Phase 1A)

All residents and staff of long-term and congregate care facilities, including:

• Skilled nursing facilities

• Veterans homes

• Group homes like residential care homes, adult family homes, adult foster homes, and intellectual and developmental disabilities group homes

• HUD 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program residences

• Institutional settings like psychiatric hospitals, correctional institutions, county jails, and juvenile detention facilities (for eligible minors, e.g. 16+ years of age may be eligible for Pfizer vaccine under the emergency use authorization)

• Other vulnerable, congregate, long-term settings

First Responders (Phase 1B)

Sworn law enforcement, firefighters, and other first responders, including:

• New Jersey State Police troopers

• Municipal and county police officers

• Campus police officers

• Detectives in prosecutors' offices and state agencies

• State agency/authority law enforcement officers (such as State Park Police and Conservation officers, Palisades Interstate Parkway officers, Human Services police, and NJ Transit police)

• Investigator, parole and secured facilities officers

• Aeronautical operations specialists

• Sworn federal law enforcement officers and special agents

• Bi-state law enforcement officers (such as the Port Authority)

• Court Security Officers

• Paid and unpaid members of firefighting services (structural and wildland)

• Paid and unpaid members of search and rescue units including technical rescue units and HAZMAT teams

• Paid and unpaid firefighters who provide emergency medical services

• Paid and unpaid members of Industrial units that perform fire, rescue and HAZMAT services

• Members of State Fire Marshal's Offices

• Bi-state fire service personnel (such as the Port Authority)

Individuals at High Risk (Phase 1B)

Individuals aged 65 and older, and individuals ages 16-64 with medical conditions, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that increase the risk of severe illness from the virus. These conditions include:

• Cancer

• Chronic kidney disease

• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)

• Down Syndrome

• Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies

• Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher but < 40 kg/m2)

• Severe Obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2)

• Sickle cell disease

• Smoking

• Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Individuals who are pregnant and those in an immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant are also eligible but should follow CDC guidance and first discuss vaccination with their medical provider before receiving the vaccine.If you are currently eligible, click here for more information on where to get vaccinated.

Who is eligible for vaccination next?

• Additional frontline essential workers (Phase 1B)

• Other essential workers and people living in congregate settings (Phase 1C)

• General population (Phase 2)

This group was designated as 1B, and will likely be next:

• Foodservice workers

• Port Authority workers

• New Jersey Transit workers

• Teachers, staff, and childcare workers

• Workers who support radio, print, internet and television news and media services

• Other critical workers (CISA)

• Other essential workers

This group was originally designated as 1C:

• People living or working in congregate or overcrowded settings — such as colleges and universities

• People living or working in congregate or overcrowded settings — such as migrant workers

• People living or working in congregate or overcrowded settings — other tribal populations

• Other people at high risk of COVID-19 illness due to comorbidities, occupations, demographics, etc.

NOTE: Vaccination phases are tentative and subject to change. The movement between vaccination eligibility phases may be fluid. One phase may overlap with another. Not all individuals in each phase will be vaccinated before opening to additional groups, and not all groups within a specific phase will be made eligible to receive the vaccine at the same time.

An announcement regarding when additional frontline essential workers and individuals at high risk will be eligible for the vaccine under Phase 1B and Phase 1C will be forthcoming, officials said.

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This article originally appeared on the Cherry Hill Patch