New Jersey is having to shut down two of its COVID-19 vaccination hubs — including one that just opened Friday — because of a shortage of doses, officials said Monday.
The sites — at the former Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford and Rowan College in Sewell — are among six mass-immunization centers that the state set up in roughly the past two weeks to try to speed up the administering of shots in the coronavirus-ravaged region.
“We continue to have a tremendous imbalance between the demand for vaccine and the supply for actual vaccine,’’ state Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said at a press conference with Gov. Phil Murphy.
“We do know that more vaccine will arrive in coming weeks and months. … We urge everyone to be patient.”
The health chief said the mega-site at Rowan College in Gloucester County in South Jersey was closed Monday because of a lack of doses but could reopen Tuesday if it has enough shots to hand out.
Meanwhile, the former racetrack in North Jersey will be closed at least Tuesday, said acting State Police Superintendent Col. Pat Callahan at the briefing.
Persichilli noted that “0ther states are having similar vaccine shortage issues’’ — an apparent reference to New York, where officials have been forced to delay the opening of such planned mega-hubs as the Mets’ Citi Field stadium and Yankee Stadium because of a lack of supply.