Camden County is getting its COVID-19 vaccination site off the ground. Officials say that it could have happened sooner had they received the vaccines sooner.

“It is the beginning, we hope, of the end of this virus,” says Camden County Board of Commissioners Director Lou Cappelli, Jr.

The center opened Wednesday in Blackwood at Camden County College, inoculating 150 people that fell under the phase 1A category.

“My sister got it last week. She’s a nurse. So, I’ll be second,” says county employee Joseph Esposito.

County officials say that there was a delay getting the doses of vaccine needed to open the site.

“Those vaccines were made available by Cooper and by Jefferson, or else we still wouldn’t have any today,” Cappelli says. “We expected to receive 6,000 doses two weeks ago and we have not received them yet. We expect to receive them by the beginning of next week, at which time we will start at 500 doses per day.”

The site has the capacity to vaccinate up to 1,000 people per day.

Camden County Sheriff Gilbert Whip Wilson was among the people to get the shot on Wednesday. He encouraged his fellow law enforcement officers to do the same.

“I know we’re never going to get 100% because we never do, but the closer we get to that 100%, the better we will be able to protect those individuals who can’t [get the vaccine,]” says Board of Commissioners member Carmen Rodriguez.

Officials say they hope to eventually expand vaccination sites to places like the city of Camden which was hit hard during the pandemic.