N.J. quietly added 11 medical conditions, including being overweight, asthma, to

When New Jersey expands coronavirus vaccine eligibility later this month, it won’t just be teachers and other essential workers added to the list of those who qualify for shots.

The state also added people ages 16 to 64 with at least one of 11 conditions that federal health officials say might increase the risk of serious COVID-19 cases — such as asthma, high blood pressure, and a body mass index that qualifies them as overweight.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday the state will significantly expand vaccine eligibility to include several hundreds of thousands of more New Jerseyans over the next four weeks. Pre-K through 12th grade teachers, as well as child-care and transportation workers, will become eligible March 15 and front-line essential employees, including restaurant workers and grocery store employees, will become eligible two weeks later, March 29.

The update also quietly included ”all individuals” 16 to 64 with medical conditions defined by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that “increase the risk or might increase the risk of severe illness from the virus.” They will be eligible March 29.

Murphy did not highlight that part of the expansion during his public briefing Monday, though it was included as a link to the CDC website in a press release issued by his office later that day.

That means 11 conditions, according to the CDC, that were not previously part of the state’s eligibility criteria will be included staring March 29:

• Asthma (moderate-to-severe)
• Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)
• Cystic fibrosis
• Hypertension or high blood pressure
• Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines
• Neurologic conditions, such as dementia
• Liver disease
• Overweight (those with BMIs greater than 25 but less than 30; obese residents were already eligible). See the CDC’s BMI calculator here.
• Pulmonary fibrosis (having damaged or scarred lung tissues)
• Thalassemia (a type of blood disorder)
• Type 1 diabetes

New Jersey has been rolling out the vaccine in phases. Currently eligible are halth-care workers, first responders, residents 65 and older, smokers, and people between ages 16 and 64 who have medical conditions the CDC says increases the risk of severe COVID-19.

Those pre-existing conditions are:

• Cancer
• Chronic kidney disease
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),
• Down syndrome
• Heart conditions, including example heart failure, coronary artery disease and cardiomyopathy
• Obesity (BMI over 30) and severe obesity
• Sickle cell disease
• Type-2 diabetes

It’s unclear how many hundreds of thousands of people the upcoming expanded eligibility will include. Murphy did not have a clear estimate Wednesday at his latest coronavirus briefing in Trenton.

But a CDC report in 2016 found that 64% of New Jersey residents are either overweight (36.3%) or obese (26.9%).

The expanded eligibility comes even though officials say demand for the vaccine continues to outpace supply and residents have struggled to get appointments in a winding online system.

Still, officials have expressed…