Process for COVID-19 vaccination is streamlined in populous Essex County, NJ

While the largest mass vaccination campaign in recent memory has frustrated health officials across the nation, the experience in Essex County, NJ, has emerged as a success story. The jurisdiction, which was grappling with the worst COVID-19 surge in the state in November, developed a plan that has been informative, effective, and hindered only by occasional disruptions in the delivery of supplies. The process calls for residents to make an appointment, either by calling a hotline manned by volunteers or by going online to the county website. They receive a unique number to present at designated vaccination sites, including two closed big-box retail locations rented with funding from the federal CARES Act and three schools. Student nurses who volunteer to administer vaccines receive clinical credit-hours in exchange, providing some of the necessary manpower. The county also has activated a software program to capture the data the federal government needs to track vaccinations. The success of the campaign is evident in the thousands of people vaccinated daily, the use of all allotted doses each week—leftover supply is quickly administered to local prisoners to avoid waste—and the fact that other municipalities are approaching Essex for guidance.