A New Jersey lawmaker wants to bring mobile COVID-19 vaccinations and testing to the Jersey Shore this spring and summer.
Assemblyman Ron Dancer has a plan to have mobile sites at boardwalks all over the coast.
“We want people to be healthy, be vaccinated and have fun again at the Jersey Shore. And I think we can do this if we provide, in expedient fashion before Memorial Day, these mobile vaccination units,” he says.
The FEMA-funded units would shift from town to town. Dancer says that not every community may opt-in, which is what makes the mobility more convenient.
Many people visiting the Jersey Shore on Thursday said that they would like to see the mobile units.
“I would love to see it. Yes, I would. There’s a lot of people out there and probably half of them don’t have a vaccine. It would be good to do that,” said Joseph Wilson, of Asbury Park.
Some people said they agreed with the legislation but did not want to see clinics on the actual boardwalks. They said that the units should be on the sidewalks or in empty parking lots for easy access.
“The central point is the shore – the Jersey Shore. If it’s somewhere close by where they say, ‘While we are down the Shore, we’re here, let’s do it,’ if people haven’t done it already,” said Bob Hopler, of Rockway.
Dancer says that having more people vaccinated and tested for the virus will help to reopen businesses and have a successful summer tourist season.
The assemblyman also says that he wants input from every beach community. The legislation is scheduled to be up for a vote in early May. If passed, the units could be in place before Memorial Day weekend.