Camden County planning to increase vaccinations next week
BLACKWOOD, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Camden County officials say 2,000 people have been vaccinated at the Camden County College site in Blackwood, New Jersey that opened last week.
Officials say next week they'll aim to vaccinate 1,000 people each day. They say it's just a matter of receiving enough doses from the federal government.
Several dozen people were vaccinated at a pop-up clinic at First Nazarene Baptist Church in Camden on Thursday. One by one, the senior citizens received their first dose of the Moderna vaccine.
Vivian Wilson hopes it will help her spend more time with her 16 grandchildren.
SEE ALSO: Track COVID-19 vaccine availability and progress across New Jersey
"Too many people died from it unnecessarily and I think it's wonderful, getting together and helping us out," said Wilson, as she waited to make her appointment for the second dose.
County officials say they're working on opening more clinics, aiming especially to reach Black and Latino communities that were hit the hardest by COVID-19.
"Camden County is looking to open up a vaccine site at the Kroc Center within the coming weeks. We're going to try to do anywhere between 200-500 people a day in the city of Camden," said Camden County Commissioner Jonathan Young.
In Gloucester County, officials say appointments are available through January 28 at the vaccine mega-site at Rowan College of South Jersey, and walk-ins are not guaranteed a vaccine.
In Salem County, a vaccination clinic was held at Salem County Community College on Thursday, and another one will be held on Saturday by appointment only.
In Pennsylvania, several county officials say they would love to vaccinate the newly eligible groups announced this week by the commonwealth, but they don't have enough supply.
Chester County officials say they receive 2,000 vaccines each week, not nearly enough to keep up with the demand.
SEE ALSO: Track COVID-19 vaccine availability and progress across Pennsylvania
"Every single phone line in every county department in all hospitals are inundated. Some phone lines are crashing. Some websites are crashing and we can't speed this up until vaccine comes," said Jeanne Casner, the director of the Chester County Health Department.
The City of Philadelphia has just launched a website where people interested in receiving the vaccine can register.
