Gov. Phil Murphy will officially announce on Wednesday that the coronavirus vaccine will be made available to everyone over 65 in compliance with new CDC guidelines.

In an effort to speed up the vaccination process, the CDC on Tuesday updated its vaccination guidelines to include everyone over 65 as well as any adult with underlying conditions.

Murphy said during appearances on PIX 11 and CNBC's Squawk Box on Wednesday morning the state would open its vaccination program to those over the age of 65 but did not offer specific dates. He told CNBC that it would likely be available "within the next 6 to 8 weeks."

"We were going to do this before the CDC had made their move because we had hospitals saying 'listen, we don't want to let anything at the end of the day go to waste.' So we're going to open up our pods to not just our health care workers but to the broader community," Murphy told PIX 11.

He urged those who want to get the vaccine to sign up for an appointment on the state website as the state wants to avoid the long lines that have developed in Florida and other places.

"That's not going to happen. This is going to continue to be an appointment based system," Murphy told PIX 11.

Anyone who lives, works or studies in New Jersey will be eligible to get the vaccine in the state, Murphy told PIX 11, adding that within the next two months he expects the vaccine to available to everyone who wants it.

“The willingness to get a vaccine is overwhelming” with over a million signups on the state website, Murphy said on CNBC.

Murphy told PIX 11 that Vice President Mike Pence and Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar are on the same page with the incoming administration of Joe Biden to not hold back the first doses of the vaccine.

"Let's get first doses on the street with a high degree of conviction from Pfizer and Moderna that they can manufacture in short order enough to get the second doses in the backlog. I believe that others are going to have a vaccine approved sooner rather than later," including New Brunswick-based Johnson & Johnson.

Murphy told CNBC the newer strain of coronavirus that has been reported in surrounding states has still not been reported here but "we’re assuming that it’s in New Jersey."

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