Essex County to offer COVID-19 booster shots to residents with compromised immune systems

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. announced Aug. 13 that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are recommending that residents with compromised immune systems receive a third dose, or booster shot, of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines. Essex County will administer the booster shots by appointment only beginning Saturday, Aug. 14, at its vaccination centers at Kmart in West Orange and Essex County College in Newark. According to the CDC and FDA, people are considered to have a compromised immune system if they are fighting a disease, undergoing medical treatments or have received an organ transplant. Appointments can be made at www.EssexCOVID.org or 973-877-8456.

“Essex County has been administering vaccines since December 2020 and we are prepared to administer the booster shots. Just like our original vaccination process, we will administer booster shots by appointment only and we are committed to making getting a booster shot as easy and efficient as possible,” DiVincenzo said. “Getting vaccinated is the best choice we all can make to keep our families safe and prevent the spread of the coronavirus, and we encourage everyone to get their shots.”

To accommodate the administration of the booster shots, the hours of operation at Kmart and Essex County College are being expanded to six days a week from Mondays to Saturdays. The centers will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Kmart is located at 235 Prospect Ave. in West Orange; Essex County College is located at 177 W. Market St. in Newark.

Booster shots will not be available at the mobile clinics or pop-up sites organized by Essex County.

Essex County opened its vaccination centers on Dec. 26, 2020, and was the first county in New Jersey to open a vaccination center. Since then, as of Aug. 13, it has administered 184,910 first doses of Moderna, 181,402 second doses of Moderna, 7,217 first doses of Pfizer, 5,559 second doses of Pfizer and 15,903 doses of J&J vaccines.

  County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., COVID-19, Essex County College, Essex County Department of Health and Human Affairs and Senior Services