When New Jersey significantly expands vaccine eligibility later this month, it won’t just be teachers and essential workers joining the list.
The state will also add 11 more medical conditions that make people eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine — including asthma, high blood pressure, and a body mass index that qualifies them as overweight.
In a move that will affect several hundred thousands of New Jerseyans, Gov. Phil Murphy announced announced Monday that pre-K through 12th grade teachers, as well as child-care and transportation workers, will become eligible March 15 and front-line essential employees, including restaurant workers and grocery store employees, will become eligible two weeks later, March 29.
At the same time, the state quietly revealed it will update its eligibility list to include “all individuals” 16 to 64 with conditions the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says “increase the risk or might increase the risk of severe illness from the virus.” That is also effective March 15, according to the state Department of Health website.
That covers 11 conditions the state previously didn’t list, all of which the CDC says “might increase the risk” of serious COVID-19:
- Asthma (moderate-to-severe)
- Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)
- Cystic fibrosis
- Hypertension or high blood pressure
- Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines
- Neurologic conditions, such as dementia
- Liver disease
- Overweight (those with BMIs greater than 25 but less than 30; obese residents were already eligible). See the CDC’s BMI calculator here.
- Pulmonary fibrosis (having damaged or scarred lung tissues)
- Thalassemia (a type of blood disorder)
- Type 1 diabetes
Murphy did not highlight that part of the expansion during his public briefing Monday, though it was included as a link to the CDC website in a press release issued by his office later that day.
People with eight other medical conditions — all in the CDC’s “increased risk” category — were already eligible in New Jersey:
- Cancer
- Chronic kidney disease
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Down syndrome
- Heart conditions, including example heart failure, coronary artery disease and cardiomyopathy
- Obesity (BMI over 30) and severe obesity
- Sickle cell disease
- Type-2 diabetes
New Jersey has been rolling out the vaccine in phases. In addition to people 16 and 64 with the above medical conditions, health-care workers, first responders, residents 65 and older, and smokers are also currently eligible to vaccinated in the state.
It’s unclear how many people will be eligible among New Jersey’s 9 million residents after the upcoming expansion. Murphy did not have a clear estimate Wednesday at his latest coronavirus briefing in Trenton.
But a CDC report in 2016 found that 64% of New Jersey residents are either overweight (36.3%) or obese (26.9%).
The expanded eligibility comes even though officials say demand for the vaccine continues to outpace supply and residents have struggled to get appointments in a winding online system. Officials said Wednesday that the state should still be hamstrung by low supply over the next few weeks.
Still, Murphy said the state’s vaccine supply is expected to “explode” by early April. And he has said even with supply issues, “folks deserved to know when they will be eligible.”
A big boost is the arrival of the new one-dose vaccine from New Brunswick’s Johnson & Johnson, the nation’s third COVID-19 vaccine. The state received its first shipment — of about 73,000 doses — on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, news broke that fellow New Jersey drugmaker Merck will help Johnson & Johnson, its rival, produce the new vaccine to increase supply. Murphy said that will “supercharge” the state’s vaccination efforts and “get more shots into people’s arms.”
President Joe Biden said Tuesday his administration is invoking the federal Defense Production Act to increase production of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine and said the U.S. will produce enough vaccines for “every adult in America by the end of May.” Biden also called on states to prioritize teachers and school staffers in their vaccination schedules.
Murphy was asked Monday what he would say to those already eligible who have been unable to obtain a vaccine appointment and can now expect substantially more competition for one. He expressed sympathy for those thwarted by the “supply/demand imbalance,” while also noting the “universal praise” for the actual administration of the vaccine.
“There’s no question there’s frustration for the folks still trying to get in there,” Murphy said. “Among other reasons, by giving a two-week window to this first tranche and a four-week window to the second tranche, is to try to get as much of that community through the system as possible.”
State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Wednesday the state is starting to contact residents 75 and older who have registered with state’s Vaccine Scheduling System. She also said they will “go first in the queue.”
Those who have already registered will not lose their place in line when the new groups can sign up, Persichilli added.
There have been about 2.19 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in New Jersey as of Tuesday morning, according to the state’s dashboard. That includes about 1.44 million first doses and about 740,400 second doses.
That’s out of more than 2.6 million doses the state has received, according to a running tally by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The state’s goal is to vaccinate 70% of its adult population — about 4.7 million people — within the next few months.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated to correct the date that people with 11 new medical conditions become eligible.
NJ Advance Media staff writer Matt Arco contributed to this report.
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.