The Monmouth County Health Department next week is expected to receive five times the amount of COVID-19 vaccines it has been getting from the state per week, and because of the amount of doses available, they opened a new mass vaccination clinic at Brookdale Community College.

Two centralized locations for vaccine distribution are now open, as doses increased from 500 doses a week to 2,500 doses a week.

Fifteen vaccination stations are now in use inside the gymnasium at Robert Collins Arena. The entire partnership between the Monmouth County Health Department, Brookdale Community College, and RWJ Barnabas Health came together in just a few weeks.

“We owe it to our residents here in Monmouth County to make sure they are being treated as fairly as any other county in the state of New Jersey,” says Monmouth County Commissioner Director Tom Arnone.

Arnone is frustrated with what he calls an unfair distribution to his county from the state, just 500 per week since December, creating a waiting list of 11,000 names. 

“At the end of the day, ultimately we want the whole state to get vaccinated, so the whole state feels safe, but more importantly, my first objective is always Monmouth County,” says Arnone.

Two-thousand vaccines will be distributed per week as long as the county receives its promised increase from the state. Another 500 will be distributed at the second location inside the County AG Building in Freehold. Keyport Superintendent of Schools Lisa Savoia was one of the first recipients of the vaccine at Brookdale.

“I am so excited,” says Savoia. “I'm hopeful the increase in vaccinations occur. As a public educator, I would love to get every one of my staff members vaccinated, so I'm hopeful the amount of vaccinations increase.”

Registration is currently, but full but a new online registration will be open soon. The county health department has an 11,000-person waiting list for vaccines. People are asked to check the status online at visitmonmouth.com.