Gov. Murphy Extends NJ COVID Emergency, Addresses Vaccine Concern

NEW JERSEY - Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday extended New Jersey's public health emergency amid the coronavirus crisis for the 10th time as the state continues to report its highest daily case numbers ever and fatalities surpass the 20,000 mark. He also addressed growing concerns about the vaccine during a Tuesday news conference (you can watch it here, below).

“I’ve extended the public health emergency in New Jersey for another 30 days,” Murphy said Tuesday. “Unless extended, these emergencies expire after 30 days. Given where we are currently, we must remain in a proper footing to continue responding to the challenges posed by the pandemic.”

At the Tuesday afternoon news conference, the governor also called for an “aggressive vaccination push” at the state and federal levels, citing the need for more vaccines in the Garden State as soon as possible. Currently, the state receives 100,000 doses weekly.

You can watch it here:

The governor specifically referred to a joint federal program with CVS and Walgreens to provide vaccinations to high-risk individuals at nursing homes, developmental centers and other long-term care facilities.

“They need to punch at a higher rate, especially Walgreens,” the governor said.

“When they’re not performing - this is the federal piece in our state - that is impacting our overall, the sense of our overall posture and we’re not getting to people fast enough," he said. "That comes back largely to the lack of federal doses that we need of this vaccine, but they need to do better, especially Walgreens.”

Nearly 90 percent of New Jersey nursing homes had been scheduled for a vaccination clinic by the end of last week, as well as 90 percent of intellectual or developmental disability centers and homes. Seventy-four residential care facilities are scheduled, as well as 64 percent of assisted care facilities.

“We will continue to work directly with CVS and Walgreens to ensure we get every facility and home eligible under the federal pharmacy program scheduled, and that we can get healthcare workers in to deliver these vaccinations," Murphy said.

“When you go back to look at the tape in the interchanges between the Trump administration and our teams in late November into early December, the expectations explicitly were for significantly more doses of vaccines to come to New Jersey," he added. "We said this right at the beginning: There’s a supply-demand imbalance here, and it’s only gotten worse and not better.”

In his remarks, the governor reported 388,160 completed vaccinations in the state as of mid-morning Tuesday, a “significantly” higher total vaccinations and vaccinations per capita compared to other states.

“All that we are currently missing are the doses of vaccines necessary for us to put this machinery into high gear,” Murphy said.

Nearly double that amount has been distributed to New Jersey, but Murphy has said that a lag in reporting and the need for more assistance in setting up distribution points explain the disparity.

Read more: NJ Health Experts Answer Patch Readers' COVID Vaccine Questions

“With the expansion of eligibility into more categories, there are now many more people who are eligible to get vaccinated, but our vaccine supply is still very limited and will be for some time,” said Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli.

However, Persichilli also noted that the federal government remains confident that all second doses can be provided.

“Vaccination sites should be scheduling the second dose appointment when residents receive their initial vaccination," she said. "If an individual hasn’t been scheduled for a second appointment they should contact the site where they were first vaccinated.”

It’s also recommended that individuals return to the same site where they received the first dose.

The emergency declaration, meanwhile, means the state will continue to have the authority to order new shutdowns and take similar extraordinary acts if the virus resurges, as it has done in other states.

New Jersey reported 4,800 new cases on Tuesday, 635,701 since March. The positivity rate is 10.12 percent and the rate of transmission is 1.11.

“If we can begin to push our [rate of transmission] back below 1 and keep it there, then we’re going to find ourselves in an ever-improving condition as our vaccination program continues to roll out,” Murphy said.

Despite the rise in cases, Murphy has only taken small steps to restrict public activity, such as recently imposing a 10 p.m. curfew on bars and restaurants, banning bar seating and imposing limits on outdoor and indoor gatherings. Read more: Gov. Murphy: NJ To Lower Gathering Limits Amid Coronavirus Spikes

Otherwise, Murphy has been resistant to reversing reopenings of the state's economy and schools even as he's said that "everything is on the table" regarding decisions to contain the coronavirus spread.

Here's also been resistant to opening up more of the economy. Read more: NJ Hits Highest COVID-19 Weekly Case Totals As Key Metrics Jump

This is a developing story. Patch will have more information as it comes in.

This article originally appeared on the Holmdel-Hazlet Patch