As New Jersey gets close to the goal of vaccinating 4.7 million adults, demand for the shot is waning.

About 40% of the state’s adult population is fully vaccinated, but the numbers in Newark are lagging behind the rest of the state.

To improve some of these numbers, University Hospital will hold a free health and wellness festival on Saturday and will give out Pfizer vaccine shots to anyone who needs one.

Hospital President Dr. Shereef Elnahal says that the event will be held from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Anyone can show up and get the vaccine shot. He says that patients will be registered and given the shot in one session. They will also be scheduled for their second shot.

They will also be doing screenings for other health ailments and will schedule people for doctor’s appointments if any health issues arise.

Elnahal says that only 24% of adults in Newark are vaccinated. He says that this has a lot to do with access to the vaccine. He says that many people can’t plan for both doses of the shot or can’t take off work to get the vaccine or take off if they have any ill effects from it. He says that a lack of transportation may also be an issue for some.

There are also some people in the state who are hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine, especially after some reports that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may have caused severe blood clots in some patients.

Elnahal says that COVID-19 remains a serious illness and that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the small chance of negative effects that vaccine may cause.

He also advises adults who have already had COVID-19 to still get the vaccine because it is not clear how long immunity from the virus will last.