Weeks after New Jersey began distributing COVID vaccines, Lynne Algrant got a call from Bergen New Bridge Medical Center.
The Paramus hospital, nestled in a county where minorities make up almost half the population, was struggling to sign up nonwhite patients for the shots.
At the same time, Algrant, vice president of a Hackensack nonprofit that works with low-income families, was being peppered by calls from Black, Latino and Asian residents struggling to get coveted vaccines.
"We thought we were going to be facing hesitancy, and we thought we were going to need to do a lot of community education,'' said Algrant, who works for Greater Bergen Community Action. "What we found very quickly is that people couldn't find appointments and couldn't navigate the system."