Murphy on CDC’s Early Vaccine Distribution Announcement and Other Issues

By Anthony Birritteri, Editor-in-Chief On Sep 3, 2020

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asking states to prepare to distribute a potential coronavirus vaccine as soon as late October, Gov.​ Phil Murphy today on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press Daily” said that if the vaccine can be done safely and scaled, and is equitably distributed, it is “a welcomed development.”

He said that vaccines should first be targeted and given to frontline healthcare workers and vulnerable communities: “Those are the folks who deserve to get it first ahead of the general population,” Murphy said.

​On President Trump’s statement on defunding New York City and three other “lawless” cities in the country, and if a New York funding cut will impact northern New Jersey, Murphy said, “The last thing we need, when you are dealing with a pandemic, an all-time economic crisis, and a reckoning of the state of racism and social justice, is for leadership at the highest levels of our country to be dividing us. This is the time to find the right rhetoric and actions that bring us together,” he said.

The governor also said that if there are criminal elements taking advantage of the situation, they need to be found and prosecuted.

On the resumption of indoor dining, which starts tomorrow at 25% capacity, Murphy said that the restaurant industry has been crushed, and that it deserves to reopen. He added, however​, that “this virus indoors is a whole different reality than it is outdoors. We have had a successful summer of outdoor dining and that continues, and our restaurants deserve the ability to take this first step indoors.

“In a month or two from now, we probably will have that choice to allow our restaurants to begin to take the next steps to get back on their feet, assuming the data warrants it, and the data right now shows it does,” Murphy said.

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