A letter from County Executive Brian M. Hughes

Dear Mercer County Community, For the past couple of months, Mercer County has operated a COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the gymnasium of Mercer County Community College’s West Windsor Campus in conjunction with the college and municipal health departments. The site has relied heavily on MCCC nursing students and volunteers to administer vaccine to our residents. Our student nurses have been able to gain real-life experience in public health while satisfying the clinical hours needed for their degrees, and I am proud of those who will soon graduate and advance on to their careers.  With nursing students preparing to leave at the end of the spring semester in early May, the County is transitioning its MCCC vaccination site to the lounge area in the skating center at adjacent Mercer County Park.

We were aware from the outset that the MCCC students would finish their semester in early May and that the college had contracts to rent out the gym to various sporting events to generate  revenue. Thus, we were prepared to move, and beginning in January developed a comprehensive plan for relocation.

The college has graciously offered us continued use of the gymnasium as a vaccination site, but for only three days a week, and we want to have greater flexibility to provide shots on any day and at any time as more vaccine becomes available. I thank the entire Mercer County College community for their generosity and service during this pandemic, particularly the nursing students who stepped up during our time of need and who administered more than 20,000 doses of vaccine to our residents. We selected the skating center lounge area because it is close to the previous site, it is a county-owned venue over which we have control, and the space and parking are convenient for elderly residents and individuals with disabilities.

Today I announced that the County of Mercer and Penn Medicine Princeton Health are partnering to expand the availability of COVID-19 vaccination opportunities in Mercer County, and that beginning May 6, Princeton Health will manage the new vaccination site at the County Park skating center. Additionally, Princeton Health will provide staff to operate Mercer County’s new mobile unit, which will schedule community-based vaccination clinics at locations throughout the County to vaccinate underserved and hard-to-reach populations, such as the elderly or those without transportation.

This public-private partnership with Princeton Health will provide convenient and free vaccinations to our residents, and we are excited to have Princeton Health come onboard to help us meet the needs of the community during this pandemic. The County’s other fixed-base vaccination clinic, operated in collaboration with Capital Health, is at CURE Arena in the City of Trenton. Vaccination appointments will continue to be required at the two fixed sites and individuals must be registered in the New Jersey Vaccination Scheduling System (NJVSS).

More than 50 percent of Mercer County’s adult population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 231,000 vaccine doses have been administered to Mercer residents. Those are encouraging numbers, and the County, our municipalities and local hospitals, pharmacies and other health care facilities that receive vaccine doses are working hard to keep those numbers growing.

Close to three dozen vaccination sites are currently operating in Mercer County, according to the New Jersey Department of Health, although all are constrained by limited supply. And that has been exacerbated by a pause on the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine while advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assess a possible link to a rare blood disorder. The bulk of the vaccine that our County Division of Public Health has received has been Moderna vaccine, and we are continuing to administer those doses while awaiting further guidance from state and federal health officials regarding J&J. My administration will sustain our push for a greater vaccine allocation, so that we can continue to get a shot into the arm of any County resident who wishes to be vaccinated.

Beginning Monday, all individuals in New Jersey age 16 and older will be eligible for vaccination. Anyone seeking to get a 16- or 17-year-old vaccinated will have to find a site that offers the Pfizer vaccine, which is the only one recommended for individuals younger than 18 years old under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Emergency Use Authorization. New Jersey’s COVID-19 Information Hub contains a listing of vaccine locations throughout the state including the minimum age requirement at each site. People can contact the vaccination site or the state’s Vaccine Call Center at 1-855-568-0545 for more information.

Vaccinations are the best protection we have against the virus, and as we await further guidance on use of the J&J vaccine, it’s important to remember that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have been demonstrated to be safe and effective. We are making good progress, but until a greater percentage of our adult population is able to be vaccinated, it’s necessary to continue following basic public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19: wear a mask, keep your distance, wash your hands frequently, and avoid crowds and poorly ventilated indoor settings. Let’s continue to support each other, keep each other safe and work together.

Brian M. Hughes
Mercer County Executive