New Jersey is potentially one week away from having COVID-19 vaccines arriving in the state.

Health care workers will be first on the list for injections. On Friday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced the first-round number as to how many vaccines will arrive in the first wave.

“The 76,000 is the first of what could be, I believe, three separate shipments from Pfizer in December alone, never mind what we get from Moderna,” Murphy said.

The governor said that he was confident that by the end of the month, New Jersey could have 300,000-500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“This is most critically important for our health care workers, emergency responders and essential workers, who need the additional protection as they confront the virus on the front lines,” the governor said.

The FDA will meet to consider approving the Pfizer vaccine on Dec. 10 and when given the go-ahead, trucks carrying the vaccine will roll out within 24 hours.

The Department of Defense is mounting the nationwide effort for distribution. The agency this week showed off vaccine cards that everyone will get.

It is especially critical as the post-Thanksgiving positive cases of the virus are still rising. The state Department of Health on Friday reported 5,673 new positive cases. There are over 3,300 COVID-19 patients in New Jersey’s hospitals, with 615 patients in the ICU.

Murphy says that the prospect of vaccines is providing evidence that the end of the pandemic is nearing.

“An end can now be considered a when and not an if,” he said. “And we can count it in months. We just have to hang on together, everybody.”

Hospitals that are preparing for the vaccine have not yet been told how many doses they will receive. It will also depend on how much they can safely store.