Some COVID-19 vaccine sites now offering walk-in appointments

Several sites in New Jersey are now offering walk-up COVID-19 vaccine appointments. It comes as appointments for the vaccine are becoming more open.

News 12 Staff

Apr 26, 2021, 9:16 PM

Updated 1,266 days ago

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Several sites in New Jersey are now offering walk-up COVID-19 vaccine appointments. It comes as appointments for the vaccine are becoming more open. The state has now administered more than 6.6 million doses, with 2.8 million people being fully vaccinated.
Part-time Avalon resident Jim Bogorowski received his vaccine shot on Monday.
“I walked in, filled out a quick form, they walk you through it and you get your shot,” he says.
Cape May County’s Avalon vaccine site had 100 walk-in appointments available on Monday.
“I actually had an appointment for Thursday in Pennsylvania, but I figured I could walk down here and get it,” Bogorowski says.
Officials say that they have been seeing a decrease in appointments being made at the vaccine sites. They attribute it to a variety of factors.
“I think the people who were on the fence and were thinking, ‘Well, you know what? I’m either going to get Johnson & Johnson or Moderna.’ Once they heard some negative things about Johnson & Johnson, they’re shying away right now,” says Cape May County Health Department Director Kevin Thomas.
State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli says that the state did a good job with vaccinating people early on.
“We’re getting an awful lot more vaccine into the state and at the same time that we’re seeing demand decreasing because we’ve really vaccinated everybody that was lined up – that first 3.6 million who registered,” she said. “That demand has been pretty well-satisfied. Now we need to focus on specific cohorts.”
Officials say that as the summer gets closer and more people arrive in Cape May County, they hope more people will get vaccinated.
“We’re looking at about 40% of our people in Cape May County who are vaccinated. We need to get the message out that we’re still open for business. We want to get to that 70% mark set by the governor and the president,” Cape May County Commissioner Jeff Pierson says.
Cape May County officials say that if they have the extra supply of vaccine shots, they may do more walk-in appointments.