Pennsylvania, New Jersey Governors Push For More COVID-19 Vaccinations As Hesitancy Continues
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - With all American adults now eligible to get the coronavirus vaccine, the focus now shifts to those reluctant to roll up their sleeves. As vaccination numbers continue to go up, health and state officials want to see it continue to go up.
But vaccine hesitancy continues to be an issue in their eyes as there are many factors officials believe are keeping people from rolling up their sleeves.
They include questions about access, concerns about technology, hesitancy because of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and long-term data.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf toured a vaccine facility in Bradford County as Pennsylvania's latest numbers show almost 44% of eligible residents have been vaccinated.
Likewise in New Jersey, Gov Phil Murphy shared the latest numbers in the Garden State where 6.2 million doses have been administered with over 2.5 million residents fully vaccinated.
But they both want more.
Wolf says everyone who gets the vaccine is helping life return to normal.
"I want to thank everybody who gets a vaccine right now, all Americans. Especially Pennsylvania, we're really contributing to that new life, that new normal we all want to get back to," Wolf said.
Murphy says the state will become more proactive to encourage vaccinations.
"I think we're at the beginning of a phase where we need to be proactive, not just like the steps we took with seniors 75 and up and 65 and up which clearly worked, but we're going to need to be much more offensive to get the rest of the of the 4.7 million across the goal line," Murphy said.
More than 134 million Americans have received at least one COVID shot so far.
