Hoboken Holds Off On New COVID-19 Vaccination List

HOBOKEN, NJ — The city of Hoboken wants to vaccinate most of its seniors for COVID-19 before it creates a separate vaccination registration list for people with chronic health conditions, Mayor Ravi Bhalla said Tuesday night. However, both groups are currently eligible and can also register at sites around Hudson County, besides the local Hoboken vaccination site.

Bhalla said it may be early February before the city has enough vaccines to start vaccinating people with chronic health conditions in town.

"I’m pleased to report that by the end of this week, we will have utilized our initial allocation of 500 vaccines provided to the city by the state of New Jersey," Bhalla wrote in an alert on Tuesday, "the large majority of them members of our senior population. We anticipate receiving another 500 vaccines in the next few days from the state, and once in hand, we will begin scheduling additional appointments next week for those 65 years of age and older from our senior pre-registration list."

He added, "We ... are likely to receive 1,000 total vaccines from the state during the initial two weeks of vaccinations, and have a partnership and established infrastructure with Hoboken University Medical Center (HUMC) to quickly distribute them. On the other hand, it is still clearly not enough to quickly vaccinate the entirety of our senior population, plus those with medical conditions who qualify in the state’s 1B vaccination phase."

Bhalla said that approximately 1,900 Hoboken seniors signed up on the city's pre-registration list. With the vaccines the city will get, he expects to finish vaccinating most Hoboken seniors by mid-February.

Seniors can register at http://www.hobokennj.gov/seniors or by calling the Community Emergency Response Team at 201-420-5621 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Pre-registration for those with medical conditions

Bhalla said that soon, the Hoboken Health Department will upgrade the current pre-registration system for those with medical conditions, as well as the phase 1C populations and beyond, in order to conform with the state’s reporting system and streamline the process with HUMC.

While the Hoboken pre-registration system for those with medical conditions will now be available sometime early next week, Bhalla said Hoboken doesn't expect to vaccinate those groups "until at least early February given the list of seniors that are currently pre-registered who have not yet been vaccinated. Please know that our Health Department is working around the clock with the state to efficiently pre-register populations in a way that is acceptable to both the state and HUMC."

However, those age 16-65 with pre-existing conditions — from Diabetes 2 to smoking —are eligible to receive the vaccines now. There are other vaccine sites in Hudson County.

Among those is the countywide center in Kearny, when new appointments open up. Register here: hudsoncovidvax.org

"The state indicated again today in a call with Hudson County cities that the federal government is not shipping vaccine supplies fast enough to states, which in turn is not able to provide a greater allotment of vaccines to cities and other medical providers including pharmacies and urgent care facilities," Bhalla said. "This is unfortunate news as we had hoped to use our partners to help supplement the city of Hoboken’s supply during the 1B phase."

New numbers

Bhalla also updated the latest numbers for residents testing positive.

• Jan. 17: 21
• Jan. 18: 9
• Jan. 19: 41

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 2,514 residents have tested positive for COVID-19, and 1,614 residents have made a full recovery, Bhalla said. Fatalities remain unchanged at 39.

Twenty-one patients with COVID-19 are currently being treated at Hoboken University Medical Center, which includes two Hoboken residents.

The city of Hoboken continues to offer covid testing. Sign up here: http://www.hobokennj.gov/testing.

Vaccines throughout the county

On Wednesday morning, the Hudson County Vaccine Distribution Center in Kearny began administering its second round of the COVID-19 vaccines to frontline workers in phase 1A who got the first shot weeks ago.

Those currently eligible for the first shot now include doctors, nurses, dentists, hygienists, community and public health workers, funeral directors, paid and unpaid Emergency Medical Technicians, uniformed police and firefighters, those working in labs with infectious material, individuals over the age of 65, and those with underlying health conditions.

In total, the county-run site is scheduled to administer nearly 1,000 vaccinations on Wednesday.

Find more sites on the New Jersey COVID-19 Information Hub.

Death toll exceeds 402,000

On Wednesday, the American death toll due to coronavirus surpassed 402,000 lives.

In 2020, 27 percent more New Jersey residents died in 2020 than in 2019 or 2018. Click to see the story here.

OTHER VIRUS 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.
• Facilities began receiving the coronavirus vaccine in December and January, starting with a long-term care home in Old Bridge in December. Read about one Summit nursing home vaccinating residents and staff here.

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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