Saturday was the first day third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine became available for people with compromised immune systems.

People came to the sites at Essex County College in Newark and at the Kmart building in West Orange to receive their shots Saturday.

Sherry Woocher, of Maplewood, says she arrived almost two hours early for her third dose at the site in West Orange because it matters that much to her as a person with a compromised immune system.

“I have rheumatoid arthritis, I have fibromyalga and another immune disease and I'm 74 years old,” she says.

Woocher is among several million Americans now eligible for a third COVID-19 shot of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

The Food and Drug Administration announced the approval of the third dose late Thursday for those with suppressed immune systems, such as transplant recipients, certain cancer patients and people with other conditions making them susceptible to the virus.

Essex County Executive Joe Divincenzo says about 450 people got their vaccines at the Essex sites Saturday, including 230 immunocompromised people who received their third dose.

“For one day turnaround, that's a pretty high number,” he says.

Boosters can be given at least 28 days after the second dose. The FDA has not mentioned a booster for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine yet.

  More information on scheduling an appointment can be found on Essex County’s website.