Chatham COVID Updates: Vaccine Progress, J&J Stoppage Effects

CHATHAM, NJ — Here are the latest coronavirus updates around Chatham.

Case Count

Chatham Borough identified 16 new cases among residents from April 9 to Thursday. The borough has reported 264 cases in 2021 and 509 since the beginning of the pandemic, along with 10 deaths from the virus.

The Morris County Division of Public Health reported 13 new cases in Chatham Township in the past 10 days, bringing the local case total to 540. Morris County, which provides daily updates on each town's case total, doesn't release death tolls by municipality. But a February service honored 37 township residents who died from COVID-19.

The School District of the Chathams reported 36 cases among students and staff from March 20 to Friday. See the district's COVID-19 dashboard.

The New Jersey Deparment of Health showed the following Morris County data as of Tuesday morning:

• 40,959 total confirmed cases (since the pandemic began)
• 7,644 total probable cases
• 952 confirmed deaths
• 246 probable deaths

Vaccinations

About 429,000 vaccinations have been administered in Morris County, according to state officials. The Center for Disease Control reported the following data for the county as of Tuesday morning:

• 37 percent of people fully vaccinated
• 46.5 percent of adults fully vaccinated*
• 72.3 percent of people 65 and older fully vaccinated

*The Food and Drug Administration has only granted emergency authorization of COVID-19 vaccinations to people 16 and older.

Around New Jersey, 2.55 million people have been fully vaccinated. New Jersey set a goal for 4.7 million people — 70 percent of the adult population — to get fully inoculated by the end of June.

Recent Updates

• District officials paused plans to return Chatham's middle and high
  schools to in-person learning five days per week. The students would have returned to the schedule later this month if coronavirus risk decreased in the area, but the New Jersey Department of Health indicated that hasn't been the case. MORE.
• Here's the latest list of vaccine sites around Morris County, along with tips of securing an appointment.
• Atlantic Health Systems, a major COVID-19 vaccine provider in North
  Jersey, will not face delays associated with the pause of Johnson & Johnson inoculations. The health care company has been administering Pfizer and Moderna shots at its sites, according to a spokesperson. Their services include administering shots at the Morris County megasite. MORE.
• The halt in J&J shots has affected the operations at several major pharmacies, some of which have vaccine sites in Morris County. MORE.

Here's what else you should know:

• Gov. Phil Murphy said several key data points are making him and state
  health officials "cautiously optimistic" that New Jersey's second wave of coronavirus is beginning to end. But he also said New Jersey isn't ready for a bigger reopening just yet. MORE.
• Although no one is proposing to utilize a COVID-19 vaccine passport
  system in the Garden State, Senator Jim Holzapfel, Assemblyman Greg McGuckin, and Assemblyman John Catalano are preparing a bill to block one. MORE.

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