Hoboken Mayor Gives Updates On Coronavirus Vaccines, Variants

HOBOKEN, NJ – Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla gave coronavirus vaccination updates on Friday, saying that the city has vaccinated 1,700 seniors through the local hospital alone, but has to serve 1,400 more seniors and 1,600 high-risk residents who've signed up.

[UPDATE: The mayor said some appointments would be released Tuesday via the county site in Kearny; read more here.]

"The Hoboken Health Department and Carepoint staff began administering second dose vaccines to our seniors this week who received their first dose back in mid-January," Bhalla wrote in an update on Friday. "We are currently scheduling appointments for next week for the remainder of 500 second dose vaccines we have on hand, in addition to approximately 100 new weekly first-dose vaccines. At the start of the vaccination process, we were fortunate to receive 500 first-dose vaccines per week from the state; however now are receiving 100 per week after setting aside the 500 second-doses."

He said, "To the 1,600 residents with high-risk medical conditions and 1,400 seniors who have signed-up but have not yet received an appointment – know that we continue to work as fast as possible with the vaccines we are provided. We will contact you for an appointment as soon as we can and our supply allows."

Bhalla said some locations have gotten more vaccines than the city, including the countywide site in Kearny, which vaccinated 700 Hoboken residents recently, he said. Bhalla said those able to drive to the Kearny site can sign up here: https://hudsoncovidvax.org/

Other places to get vaccinated in Hudson County can be found on this list, to which three Jersey City Rite-Aid locations were added Friday (watch Patch for updates).

Bhalla wrote, "New variants detected across the United States, including here in New Jersey, have the potential to spread quickly if necessary safety precautions aren’t taken in the short term. As before, these include wearing a mask (or two), social distancing, limiting indoor gatherings beyond household members, avoiding travel outside New Jersey, and getting tested."

For the latest CDC recommendations about how to wear masks, and the benefits of a cloth plus surgical mask, click here.

Bhalla added, "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently came out with research indicating that double-masking helps reduce the spread of COVID-19 by up to 95 percent. The CDC research demonstrates that tying knots of a surgical mask around the ear creates a tighter fit around the face, and also adds greater protection. As always, wearing a mask is significantly safer than wearing no mask at all. Bottom line — please wear a mask (or two) when outside the household."

Hoboken statistics

Bhalla said that the Hoboken Health Department reported the following new confirmed cases:

• Last Friday, Feb. 5: 14
• February 6: 18
• February 7: 38
• February 8: 18
• February 9: 20
• February 10: 18
• February 11: 30

That's a total for the week of 148, bringing the total confirmed cases in town since the start of the pandemic to 2,989.

Hoboken University Medical Center is currently treating 15 patients with COVID-19, which includes three Hoboken residents, Bhalla said.

Thirty-nine residents have passed away from the virus.

Super Bowl gatherings and getting tested

Bhalla noted, "If last weekend you made the decision to get together with multiple households to watch the Super Bowl, I encourage you to get tested as a precaution, even if you are not exhibiting symptoms. This is similar guidance we gave during the post-holiday season after extended family gatherings. If the gathering was on Sunday for the Super Bowl, you should wait until at least Friday to get tested, to ensure there has been at least five days after a potential exposure to minimize the chance of an inaccurate result. The safest option would be to continue to take precautions, and get tested early next week."

He said 3,000 COVID-19 testing appointments are available in Hoboken per week. Visit the city’s testing page at http://www.hobokennj.gov/testing. Note that Prompt MD will not be testing on Monday at 605 Jackson Street due to President’s Day.

See more of the mayor's message here.

American death toll

As of Presidents Day, more than 486,000 Americans had died of the virus. (You can see which states had the highest death toll in the past week on this CDC map.)

Other information

• Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, including the Moderna vaccine, are a new type of vaccine that doesn't include the weakened virus, but teaches human cells to make a protein that triggers the immune response (read more about that here).
• Gov. Phil Murphy reportedly said last week that he'd like to start vaccinating the general public by Memorial Day.
• Here is a link to see the updated list of people eligible in New Jersey.

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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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