Another New Jersey COVID-19 vaccine megasite has closed its doors and held a celebration to mark the milestone.
Darlene Olivieri was the final person to get vaccinated at the megasite inside the Moorestown Mall.
"I’m excited to do it now and be protected. It’s way overdue,” she said.
The milestone was also marked with a “clap out” to thank health care workers, the National Guard and the volunteers. More than 400,000 doses were administered at the center.
“It’s exciting, it’s emotional, it’s sad that we’re going to be an ending of an era here at the mega center,” says Virtua Health nurse Karen Dintino. “We’ve been going here every day at 6:30 and some days we’re here ‘til 7:30 at night.”
But with the delta variant on the rise, health officials are urging those who aren’t vaccinated to get the shot. Olivieri says that this is why she chose to get vaccinated now.
“Seeing the variant and seeing the severity of it, I decided that for me, it’s the right thing to do to get vaccinated,” she says.
Health officials say that they are concerned about the variant.
“This delta variant is no joke. It has moved from a very small percentage of the variants, to now the chief area and we know that it’s more contagious than the previous variant,” says Burlington County Health Director Dr. Herb Conaway.
Although the megasite in Burlington County has been closed, health officials will be holding a series of pop-up clinics in the hope to get teenagers vaccinated before the new school year.