Hudson County Covid-19 Vaccine Site Only Taking Those 75+ For Now

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — For the time being, the Hudson County Vaccine Distribution Center's appointment portal will only allow people who are 75+ to schedule a time for a first shot, said a spokeswoman on Sunday. Those with second dose appointments will still be vaccinated as scheduled.

In the event that appointment slots go unfilled, the portal will be reopened for all other eligible Hudson County residents.

The spokesperson said that 327 residents over 75 have already registered to be vaccinated on Monday, 25 of whom are over 90 years old.

The move comes as part of a statewide effort to vaccinate New Jersey’s most vulnerable and at risk populations, said Caitlin Mota.

“Since beginning our vaccination efforts two months ago, we have remained committed to providing eligible residents in all corners of Hudson County with the opportunity to be vaccinated, especially those most at risk,” said Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise Sunday. “In the coming days, we will be furthering our efforts to assist our most vulnerable residents and ensure that this life saving vaccine is put into the arms of those who are most in need.”

County officials will be proactively contacting residents who are 75 or older and who have already registered on its system to fill vaccination slots for the week.

All residents are encouraged to preregister for the COVID-19 vaccine by visiting hudsoncovidvax.org.

To date, the county-run site has administered 19,648 vaccinations, 12,997 first doses and 6,671 second doses. This week, the center will administer 1,900 first doses and 1,790 second doses, 100 percent of its allocation from the state.

The Hudson County Vaccine Distribution Center is operated by Hudson Regional Health Commission and overseen by County Executive Tom DeGise’s Vaccine Task Force. The center is located at the USS Juneau Center at 110 Hackensack in Kearny.

Other places and ways to get a vaccine in Hudson

• Patch on Friday published an updated list of places to get a vaccine in Hudson County, and links to information about the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine and links to the various sign-up sites in Hoboken. Read more here.
• The city of Hoboken also has some locations, linked in the beginning of this story.
• Some in New Jersey have been helped by social media groups, like New Jersey Covid Vaccine Info on Facebook, which has 67,000 members.

New Jersey trends and vaccine information

While the death toll in New Jersey is declining again, deaths and hospitalizations have not decreased to the level of Sept. 7, when there were 2 deaths reported statewide in 24 hours.

On Wednesday, the state reported 57 new confirmed deaths from the virus in 24 hours, and 2,070 people battling the virus in hospitals.

The state has confirmed 55 cases in New Jersey of the UK variant of the virus.

Presently, the state's sites are vaccinating people in the 1A and 1B groups, including certain essential workers, seniors over 65, and people 16-65 with chronic medical conditions. Find out if you qualify by clicking this link.

People can register for an appointment on the state's hub for any of the state's six megasites, besides checking the other websites listed below.

Two types of vaccines are presently offered, and more are on the way:

• Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, including the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, 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).
• The FDA may announced on Friday that they will recommend a new one-shot vaccine developed Johnson and Johnson, which could be available later in March and uses more traditional technology. Read more about how it compares to the other vaccines by clicking here and here. Having the majority of the public vaccinated is expected to lessen the spread.

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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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