ShopRites in New Jersey ready to go with COVID-19 vaccine

Wakefern Food Corp.’s ShopRite is set to give COVID-19 vaccinations at 39 pharmacies in New Jersey.

Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern said the stores have received an initial shipment of the Moderna vaccine and plan to first administer the shots to health care workers under the company’s partnership with New Jersey, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“We are excited to be part of the initial stages of this unprecedented public health campaign as we begin vaccinating health care workers who are on the front lines in the COVID-19 pandemic,” Jeffrey Mondelli, vice president of pharmacy, health and beauty at Wakefern, said in a statement.

Wakefern noted that ShopRite pharmacies are adhering to the federal government’s coronavirus vaccine distribution schedule, which involves a phased allocation of the immunizations focusing on people at highest risk of exposure to the virus. In the first phase, individuals working in the health care arena have priority to receive the vaccine, the company said.

ShopRite of Greater Morristown is one of the pharmacy sites in New Jersey that has received the COVID vaccine.

ShopRite locations administering the vaccine were selected in coordination with the New Jersey State Department of Health, according to Mondelli. “We stand ready to serve and will continue to provide increased access to this life-saving vaccine as new expanded eligibility guidelines are released by the CDC,” he added.

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COVID-19 vaccinations are free and available by appointment while supplies last, Wakefern said. Those currently eligible to receive the vaccine can make an appointment by going online to vaccines.shoprite.com or by downloading the ShopRite Pharmacy mobile app and using the online scheduler. Appointment availability may be limited due to demand, the company noted.

Though coronavirus immunizations currently aren’t available to the general public, ShopRite expects to expand access to the vaccine as soon as the government enters the next phase of distribution. The Moderna vaccine requires two inoculations, with the second coming 28 days after the first dose.

ShopRite locations in New Jersey that can now administer the vaccine to health care personnel include pharmacies in Absecon, Berlin, Bernardsville, Byram, Chews Landing, Clark, Clinton, East Brunswick, Elizabeth, Englewood, Flanders, Glassboro, Greater Morristown, Greenwich, Hamilton Marketplace, Hazlet, Hillsborough, Hunterdon, Lincoln Park, Little Falls, Livingston, Marlboro, Marmora, Medford, Millville, Mullica Hill, Newark, Newton, Pennington, Rio Grande, Rochelle Park, Somers Point, Spotswood, Upper Deerfield, Washington, West Milford and Manahawkin, as well as on Union Mill Road and Fischer Boulevard.

Related:ShopRite pharmacies to provide COVID-19 vaccines

Last month, Wakefern announced that ShopRite had joined the Pharmacy Partnership Strategy for COVID-19 Vaccination Program, in which the supermarket chain will work with HHS and CDC to broaden access to COVID-19 vaccines in the communities they serve. ShopRite pharmacies also are working with state and local jurisdictions to reach priority populations, including health care staff and essential frontline workers.

A retailer-owned food cooperative, Wakefern is the logistics, distribution and merchandising arm for ShopRite, which includes about 280 stores in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland.

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