One day after New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said a handful of CVS pharmacies statewide would get direct allocations of COVID-19 vaccines, the company says every appointment statewide is already booked.
Murphy said Wednesday that nearly two dozen CVS locations would get an allocation of just under 20,000 doses this week from a new federal program to distribute directly to pharmacies.
But as of 8:30 a.m., the CVS website to find and book appointments in the state showed everything was fully booked. Users who tried to click through and make an appointment anyway were re-directed to a virtual waiting room, which warned of high volume.
The situation was only slightly better in New York and in Connecticut, where many locations were also already booked up. But CVS said that as the allocation comes each week, more appointments will come available.
The struggles are similar at Walgreens and Rite Aid pharmacies throughout the region, where not every location will have access to the vaccine. Those that do have very limited supply, and appointments are booking equally as fast.
It follows a bumpy rollout for the pharmacy program elsewhere. According to NBC affiliate WJAR, some Rhode Island residents who tried to book appointments at CVS last weekend were erroneously directed to stores out of state where they weren't eligible.
