New Jersey opening up COVID-19 vaccine to smokers

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It’s the first time that smoking has been good for your health.

New Jersey is now allowing smokers to get the highly coveted COVID-19 vaccine — on the grounds that their habit is considered a high-risk health condition, reports said Wednesday. 

“Smoking puts you at significant risk for an adverse result from COVID-19 and there are 2 million smokers in New Jersey who fit into these categories,” New Jersey’s Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said, according to NJ.com. 

Gov. Phil Murphy announced the head-scratching expanded eligibility guidelines Wednesday, saying that anyone over the age of 65, or those with specific medical conditions, can start signing up for the booster as soon as Thursday, the outlet reported. 

The conditions include cancer, chronic kidney disease, Down syndrome, severe obesity, Type-2 diabetes and a host of other maladies, the outlet reported. 

With the expanded guidelines, an estimated 4.47 million residents, or about half of the Garden State’s 9 million people, are now eligible to receive the vaccine, the outlet said — but it’s not like anyone will need to show proof. 

“No documentation of the medical condition or your age will be required,” Persichilli said, per NJ.com.

So far, the Garden State has administered 264,681 doses of the vaccine, including 236,503 first dose shots and 28,045 second jabs. 

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