Trenton officials restart program to vaccinate seniors, homebound residents

Senior citizens and disabled Trenton residents are now able to get the COVID-19 vaccine without leaving their homes.
The city has restarted a program to home deliver vaccines. The effort previously had to be halted because it was using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“If they can’t come to us, we’ll go to them,” says Trenton Health Officer Yvette Graffie-Cooper. “They don’t have to be seniors, but it’s just individuals that can’t get out to get the vaccine.”
The city stopped the program after only administering 110 J&J shots.
“We stared on Monday, we paused on Tuesday,” says Mayor Reed Gusciora.
The mayor says that the state provided 2,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine for the homebound program.
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Mae Cohoom is 86. She suffers from kidney disease and arthritis, and uses a walker whenever she goes out. Even then, moving around is difficult.
“I’m too old to worry,” she says.
Cohoom received her shot at her Second Street home on Monday morning.
Graffie-Cooper says that she made more than 30 home visits on Tuesday.
“It’s very rewarding to find out that we’re reaching our seniors and homebound folks,” she says.
Using the Moderna vaccine means that health officials will have to make two visits to the patients.
“J&J is the most versatile of the vaccines, and especially you don’t want to bother people in their homes and some of them are bedridden so you don’t want that disturbance only once but now we’re going to have to do it twice,” says Gusciora.
The city’s 1,900 Johnson & Johnson doses are in a freezer, and will be ready if that vaccine is again cleared for use.
Trenton residents who want to be vaccinated at home can call 609-815-2556 to schedule an appointment.