When COVID-19 swept into North Jersey 10 months ago, it struck the Hawthorne Police Department particularly hard.
Almost a third of the squad s 34 officers fell ill almost at once, sending then-Chief Richard McAuliffe into a mad scramble to stagger schedules, change shifts and keep his officers away from each other.
That was the worst of it current Chief James Knepper said only a few officers have caught the virus since. But the spring disaster made an imprint. And now that the vaccine is available to law enforcement, he’s encouraging his officers to get it as soon as they can.
But he won t order them.
Updated on January 11, 2021 at 5:08 pm
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What to Know
Gov. Phil Murphy and health officials toured what s being called a coronavirus vaccine megasite at Rowan College of South Jersey Monday.
The state hopes to vaccinate thousands of people each week at the Rowan site and others spread out in the state.
Ultimately, the state s goal is to vaccinate 70% of the population, or about 4.7 million people, within six months. The rollout of vaccinations has been slower than expected to this point.
As New Jersey works to get more people vaccinated against the coronavirus amid a slower-than-expected rollout, the state is opening megasites around the state aimed at vaccinating thousands daily.
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N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy provides COVID update, visits new vaccine mega-site. How to watch live today. (Jan. 11, 2021)
Updated Jan 11, 2021;
Gov. Phil Murphy will hold on Monday his first coronavirus briefing since Wednesday.
The press conference at the Trenton War Memorial’s George Washington Ballroom starts at noon and will be streamed live on the governor’s YouTube.com channel.
Murphy will be joined by state Heath Commissioner Judy Persichilli, state epidemiologist Dr. Christina Tan, state Police Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan and acting state Education Commissioner Dr. Angelica Allen-McMillan.
Murphy, Persichilli and Callahan will appear at the press conference following a 9:30 a.m. stop at Rowan College of South Jersey in Sewell, where they will inspect the one of the state’s six planned COVID-19 vaccine mega-sites.