10,000th Dose: Camden County Vaccination Center reaches milestone

BLACKWOOD, New Jersey (WPVI) -- As eligible people across New Jersey are scrambling to get the COVID-19 vaccination, the Camden County Vaccination Center in Blackwood marked a major milestone Thursday.

Seventy-two-year-old Mike McGee doesn't know how he got to be the 10,000th dose, but he's grateful for it.

He now has a certificate to prove it.

"How do I feel? I'm tickled pink," McGee said.

McGee, the former Director of Public Works for Berlin Township, retired eleven years ago.

This spring, he'll finish his 44th year with the West Berlin Fire Company.

"It's a choice - you either get the vaccine or get the virus, and the virus is no fun," remarked McGee.

McGee knows this firsthand. He and his wife had COVID last fall.

His symptoms were relatively mild. McGee lost his taste and smell and likened the feeling to that of a sinus infection.

But his wife wasn't as lucky.

"My wife went through the virus back in November, she spent a couple weeks in the hospital, and I wouldn't have anybody go through that," said McGee.

Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli said the center has worked safely and efficiently since it opened less than a month ago, operated in conjunction with Jefferson Health New Jersey and Cooper University Health Care.

"We have all the manpower we need and technology we need to vaccinate as many people as we can each day," Cappelli said. "Right now, we're at about 2,000 a day, we'll be up to 3,000 come next week, so we're rocking and rolling down here."

But Cappelli added that the center is dependent on the amount of doses they receive.

This is just the beginning.

"There is optimism with the new administration we are hearing about more vaccines; we've jumped up to 3,000 a week this week, so going forward we'll take as much as we can get," Cappelli stated.