Gov. Murphy says NJ's 1st COVID vaccines to be administered Tuesday

NEW JERSEY (WPVI) -- New Jersey will administer the state's first COVID vaccines on Tuesday morning, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Sunday.

The first resident will be vaccinated at University Hospital in Newark.

Murphy made the announcement via Twitter.

Murphy told ABC's "This Week" program that he will be on hand Tuesday morning at University Hospital in Newark for the first COVID-19 vaccinations. He said the bulk of the 76,000 doses constituting the first batch of the Pfizer vaccine will go to health care workers with some going to residents and staff at long-term care homes.

The governor said he believes that by April or May, everyone in the state will have access to one of the vaccines. He's urging people not to relax efforts to stem the spread of the virus, especially limiting holiday celebrations to immediate family, since he said 60 to 80 percent of transmission is now occurring in private settings.

He says despite "good news" on a COVID-19 vaccine, "the next number of weeks are going to be hell, I fear, so we're begging with people to please, please, please don't let your guard down, even when you're in private settings."

New Jersey, like the rest of the country, has seen a resurgence of the virus, with daily caseloads climbing above their highest points in the spring. The rolling weekly average has also ticked up steadily.

Murphy announced 4,170 new positive COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the state total to 400,650 cumulative cases. Twenty-four new deaths have been reported. A total of 15,883 people have died from the virus in the Garden State.

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As COVID Numbers rise throughout New Jersey, hospitals have seen an uptick in patients who can't fight the virus at home over the past month.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.