COVID-19 updates: First N.J. vaccinations today; Urgent cares close; New Years plans. What you need to know. – NJ.com

Hundreds of New Jersey health care workers are receiving their first of two doses of the coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, 286 days after the first case was reported in the Garden State.

The vaccinations at University Hospital in Newark are underway a day after Gov. Phil Murphy announced 4,805 COVID-19 cases and 25 more deaths. That brings the states totals to 405,448 cases and 17,775 deaths from the virus 15,907 confirmed and 1,868 considered probable fatalities.

Officials said 76,050 doses of the Pfizer vaccine were due in New Jersey on Monday and Tuesday with another 86,000 doses of expected to arrive in the state next week.

About 20,000 from the first batch will go to long-term care facilities with the remaining 54,000 bound for hospitals, officials said.

When the Moderna vaccine is approved, New Jersey can expect to receive approximately 154,000 doses in the first shipment.

There were 3,660 patients in the states 71 hospitals with the coronavirus or a suspected case as of 10 p.m. Monday, an increase of 22 from the previous 24-hour period. There were 727 patients receiving intensive care with 456 on ventilators. Hospitals discharged 291 patients on Monday.

About 10.95% of the 38,861 coronavirus tests administered on Thursday, the most recent day for which data is available, were positive.

CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage

Heres a roundup of the latest coronavirus news in New Jersey and elsewhere:

Murphy uncorks bad news for New Years Eve partying. N.J.s indoor bar, restaurant curfew unlikely to change: Murphy said Monday he doesnt expect to lift New Jerseys curfew on indoor bars and restaurants meant to try and slow the spread of the coronavirus in time for New Years Eve.

Indoor food and alcohol sales are prohibited indoors after 10 p.m. in the state, and counties and municipalities have the option to shutter nonessential businesses as early as 8 p.m. daily. The rules, which Murphy put into effect last month, mean this New Years celebrations wont be held inside neighborhood bar or restaurant.

N.J. fire station shut down after COVID-19 exposures at unauthorized holiday gathering, town says: A fire station in Essex County suspended operations this week after first responders were exposed to COVID-19 during an unauthorized holiday gathering, officials said.

Operations at Fire Station No. 2 in Verona have been temporarily suspended after several members were exposed to coronavirus during a gathering in the building, township manager Matthew Cavallo said in a statement.

N.J. urgent cares temporarily closing to send staff to hospitals amid coronavirus surge: Inspira Health is temporarily closing five of its 11 urgent care centers for two months or possibly longer in an effort to redeploy its staff to three hospitals and other medical facilities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic response, a company spokesman said Monday.

The urgent care facilities in Glassboro, Somerdale and Woolwich closed at 8 p.m. Sunday. Facilities in Haddon Township and Mantua closed earlier this month.

You could be killing your parents, grandparents by spreading COVID-19, Murphy tells young N.J. residents: Murphy had a morbid message for New Jerseys youth Monday: You may be killing older members of your family by spreading the coronavirus.

Murphy warned that even as the Garden State prepares for its first COVID-19 vaccinations Tuesday, New Jersey will continue to see large numbers of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths over the next few weeks as the state continues to deal with a second wave of the pandemic. He said residents cannot let our guard down when it comes to precautions like wearing masks, social distancing, and following restrictions.

78% of those infected with coronavirus refuse to help with contact tracing in N.J.: The number of people in New Jersey who refuse to cooperate with coronavirus contact tracers is hitting new heights.

Seventy-eight percent of people who were contacted by the states more than 3,300 tracers last week wouldnt work with them, Murphy said Monday. Its up from 74% of people who refused the prior week.

Nearly half of N.J.s MVC agencies closed because workers have COVID-19: New Jersey drivers who had to go to a state Motor Vehicle Commission agency found 16 agencies were closed Monday morning, with the Somerville agency the latest to be closed due to an employee testing positive for the coronavirus in each facility.

The latest closures means close to 50% of the states 39 agencies are closed.

The Somerville Vehicle Center closed Monday due to an employee testing positive for COVID-19, and will reopen Saturday, Dec. 26. That employee was last in the agency on Friday.

Coronavirus vaccine scams a concern as doses begin to arrive in N.J., Murphy says: Federal and state officials have said repeatedly thatthe first doseswill be administered tohealth care workers,andnursing home residentsand staff will be next.

While the general population awaits vaccinations later in the winter and into the spring, law enforcement and government agencies are warning people not to fall for fraud involving fake vaccines or related schemes.

U.S. cases: At least 300,494 of the estimated 16,520,408 million to test positive for the coronavirus in the U.S. have died as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Worldwide cases: As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, the coronavirus has led to at least 1,623,864 million deaths in 192 counties, according to the center. More than 72.9 million have been infected since the outbreak started in December 2019. At least 41.3 million have recovered.

NJ Advance Media staff writers Anthony G. Attrino, Matt Arco, Bill Duhart, Brent Johnson and Karin Price Mueller contributed to this report.

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COVID-19 updates: First N.J. vaccinations today; Urgent cares close; New Years plans. What you need to know. - NJ.com