Coronavirus Q&A To Be Held For Westfield Residents Thursday

WESTFIELD, NJ — The volunteer group Lifelong Westfield will host a virtual coronavirus forum Thursday so that, Mayor Shelley Brindle said Tuesday, "seniors and other interested residents [can] discuss the recently authorized COVID-19 vaccines with experts from Atlantic Health, the Westfield Regional Health Department, and Lifelong Westfield."

Lifelong Westfield is a Mayor’s Senior Advisory Council that includes a geriatric physician, representatives from senior housing, and others.

The forum will start at 2 p.m. Thursday. To register, please email westfieldnjseniors@gmail.com and the Zoom meeting information will be sent to you.

As of Wednesday, more than 427,000 Americans had died of the virus, one quarter of the deaths in the world. (You can see which states had the highest death toll in the past week on this CDC map.)

The county of Union announced Saturday night that it would allow people to schedule coronavirus vaccines starting at 11 a.m. Sunday, but the appointments were taken quickly, frustrating residents.

One 90-year-old Westfield woman commented at the end of a Patch story, "I am 90 years old and still waiting for an appointment. I registered two weeks ago. What’s the problem?"

Click here to see the currently listed public vaccines sites in Union County, including in Westfield, Union, Plainfield, and more.

The state has said they are trying to get more vaccines from the federal government.

At first, the state began vaccinating 650,000 health care workers, staffs, and residents of long-term care facilities. The state expanded eligible people to police and firefighters, those over 65, and people 16-65 with certain health conditions. That's when it became harder to get appointments.

State officials have said the goal is to vaccinate 70 percent of the adult population by the spring.

Here are statewide coronavirus resources:

• NJ COVID-19 Information Hub: https://covid19.nj.gov/
• General COVID-19 questions: 2-1-1
• NJ COVID-19 hotline: (800) 222-1222
• State list of vaccine sites.

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