Hoboken Formulates Plan To Vaccinate Seniors As 2 More Pass Away

HOBOKEN, NJ — Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla said Friday night that two more Hoboken residents were confirmed to have died of coronavirus since the last town update Wednesday, bringing total coronavirus fatalities in town to 39. Amid local vaccination centers popping up around New Jersey, Bhalla said the city will begin pre-registering seniors this coming week for when they may be able to receive the shot as part of Phase 1B of vaccination.

In New Jersey right now, the vaccine is only being administered to people in Phase 1A: health care workers, their staffs, and long-term care residents and staffs. As of Thursday, police and firefighters became eligible as well.

As part of the next phase, 1B, the vaccine will be offered to other types of essential workers and citizens over 75.

The state is the authority that determines when vaccinations will move to the next phase.

Bhalla wrote, "Once Gov. Murphy moves the state into the next phase that includes some segment of the senior population, we want to have a list to provide to Riverside Medical Group to immediately schedule appointments, to begin the first day seniors are eligible."

Fatalities

Bhalla also reported Friday that the mile-square city had lost a man in his 80s and a man in his 90s since the last update Wednesday, an update that similarly had included news of two seniors passing away.

From May until December, no one had died of coronavirus in Hoboken.

"I’m saddened that another two valued members of our Hoboken community, a male in his late 80s and another male in his early 90s, have passed away after contracting COVID-19," Bhalla wrote on Friday evening. "It is heartbreaking to lose any members of our senior population to this virus, and my thoughts and prayers are with their families."

He also said that 59 people were confirmed on Friday to have tested positive for the vaccine, as well as 25 Thursday and 27 Wednesday. That brings the total cases to 2,193 since the start of the pandemic.

There are 29 people hospitalized in Hoboken who are being treated for the virus, he said, including nine residents.

"Contact tracing from the Hoboken Health Department indicates that many of the new cases stem from indoor gatherings and travel during the holiday season," Bhalla wrote, "as we anticipated would occur. Cases also stem from household contacts contracting the virus from family members, travel outside of New Jersey to other states with high COVID-19 rates, as well as a rise in cases among seniors and children under 18 years of age."

To see more of the Nixle alert and testing information, click here.

Vaccination goals and phases

Bhalla said that 120 Hoboken police and firefighters are set to be vaccinated through Sunday, and 280 Hoboken health care workers have signed up or been vaccinated already.

The state's goal is to vaccinate 70 percent of the adult population – or 4.7 million adults – within six months.

If you are a healthcare worker or other person falling into the 1A category, you can visit http://www.hobokennj.gov/vaccine1A to register to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from Riverside.

Once registered, staff from Riverside Medical Group staff will call to schedule an appointment. You can also go to the countywide site, HCvax@hudsonregionalhealth.org.

To find out about each phase, click this state information sheet.

Gov. Phil Murphy reportedly said Tuesday that he'd like to start vaccinating the general public by Memorial Day.

State and national trends

New Jersey had its highest new case total ever from Wednesday to Thursday, and a daily death toll of 123 people. More than 17,000 across the state have passed away from the virus.

This was the first time New Jersey topped 100 fatalities for three days in a row, since May. Gov. Phil Murphy said 3,488 people are hospitalized with the virus statewide, 668 on ICU, 469 on ventilators.

Murphy also said 459 coronavirus patients were admitted to hospitals and 449 discharged.

As of Friday, 365,000 Americans had died of the virus. (You can see which states had the highest death toll in the past week on this CDC map.)

NATIONAL TRENDS

• Use this link to see the updated fatality count in the United States.
• More than 900 health care workers have died of the virus nationally.
• Others are simultaneously fighting misinformation and hoaxes as they try to fight the virus.

HOW TO GET HELP WITH HEAT, RENT, AND MORE

• During the State of Emergency in New Jersey, no tenant is permitted to be evicted from their home or apartment for the inability to pay rent. Talk to your local mayor's office if you are experiencing difficulties.
• The CARES act has made money available to help with rent in each city. More information is here.
• New Jersey residents can get help with heating and energy bills. Information is here.
• Various other avenues of relief and benefits have also been made available, including family leave for 12 weeks if you can't work due to your child's school or camp being closed, and changes to unemployment rules to help those who were at a job for a short time, or freelancing.

LONG-TERM CARE

• Recently, there were 159 long term care facilities with active outbreaks, the state Department of Health said last month. The state announced that deaths at the facilities had more than doubled since May 1.
• New Jersey residents became alarmed at the high number of residents who have passed away in nursing homes, rehabs, and similar facilities. The state announced plans in May to increase testing at some long term care facilities.
• The state released death toll statistics in spring for long-term care facilities like rehabs and nursing homes. See the list here.
• You can report problems with long term care facilities here, or if you suspect coronavirus related misconduct, here.
• Some New Jersey long-term care facilities reopened for limited visits, with precautions, in July.
• Some facilities will receive the coronavirus vaccine in December and January, starting with a long-term care home in Old Bridge in December.

Here are statewide coronavirus resources:

• NJ COVID-19 Information Hub: https://covid19.nj.gov/
• General COVID-19 questions: 2-1-1
• NJ COVID-19 hotline: (800) 222-1222

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