Weekend COVID Update For Hoboken

March 20: 25
March 21: 17
March 22: 37
March 23: 25
March 24: 15
March 25: 37
March 26: 37
March 27: 0

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been a total of 4,250 known, confirmed cases. As of Monday, there have been 3,307 recoveries. I am saddened to report two fatalities, which include a female in her early 50s from February, and a recent passing of a male in his late 70s. Forty-nine Hoboken residents have passed away with COVID-19 during the pandemic, and my prayers are with all those family members who have lost loved ones.

Unfortunately, we continue to see an increase in cases both in Hoboken and throughout the State of New Jersey. I got off the phone earlier with a resident who lost her mother, and was advised that according to ICU staff, certain new strains of the virus are very aggressive and virulent. Accordingly, I urge residents to stay the course and follow CDC guidelines for wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing, and for avoiding larger indoor gatherings. We continue to advise against out-of-state travel, especially during spring break. If you must travel out of state, for the sake of your family, friends and your neighbors, please be sure to quarantine and get tested at least 3-5 days after returning

Update on COVID-19 vaccine in Hoboken 

On Thursday, the Hoboken Health Department began administering the first of our 1,170 Pfizer vaccines we have been able to secure thanks to our partnership with County Executive Tom DeGise, Governor Phil Murphy and their teams. This was a much-needed boost to substantially increase our distribution, and I’m glad to share that we will be provided another batch of first-dose Pfizer 1,170 vaccines next week as well. At Carepoint, we also administered second doses of the Moderna vaccine, utilizing the list of residents who have pre-registered with the City.

Governor Murphy indicated that in the weeks to come, the State of New Jersey is anticipated to receive a significant increase in vaccine supply from the federal government, which could result in additional vaccine points of distribution in Hoboken through additional pharmacies and medical practices.

For those residents who are on our pre-registration list and awaiting an appointment, I greatly appreciate your patience and understanding as we work as fast as possible with the supply we are provided from the State.

Signing-up to receive the COVID-19 vaccine 

If you are eligible to receive the vaccine and are a Hoboken resident, you can pre-register to receive it through the Hoboken Health Department at Carepoint by visiting http://www.hobokennj.gov/vaccinesignup.

If you are available to travel outside of Hoboken for a vaccination, please consider registering to receive the vaccine through Hudson County and the State’s approved vaccination sites, given that our Hoboken pre-registration list still has a wait with a higher volume of requests compared to supply. As before, the locations prioritized for the largest supply of vaccines continue to be the State’s mega sites and County distribution sites.

To sign-up to receive the vaccine through Hudson County, please visit https://hudsoncovidvax.org/. As of this afternoon, there were still appointments available.

To view options to register for the vaccine through the State’s mega-sites, please visit https://covid19.nj.gov/pages/covid-19-vaccine-locations-for-eligible-recipients.

If you are eligible, need assistance, and are able to travel, please feel free to email “Sarah’s Vaccine Angels”, a local group of volunteers who are helping residents secure appointments by emailing hobokenc19vaxxvolunteers@gmail.com along with your name and phone number.

Vaccinating homebound seniors 

As mentioned in a previous update, the Hoboken Health Department is preparing to receive a shipment of Johnson & Johnson vaccines from the State of New Jersey, which we plan to administer to Hoboken residents who are homebound. If you are a homebound Hoboken resident or know of one who needs to register to receive the vaccine, please select “homebound” on our dedicated vaccine sign-up page at http://www.hobokennj.gov/vaccinesignup.

Homebound residents or family/friends of the homebound residents can also call the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) at 201-420-5621, and leave a message with first name, last name, address, phone number, age and email, if available.

Additional vaccine eligibility from New Jersey 

Governor Murphy and the State of New Jersey added the following groups as eligible to receive the vaccine as of Monday, April 5:

• Individuals aged 55-64
• Individuals 16 and over with intellectual and developmental disabilities
  • Developmental disabilities are a group of conditions due to an impairment in physical, learning, language, or behavior areas.

• Workers in the following jobs:
  • Communications, IT, media, including communications infrastructure support (engineers, technicians) and members of the press
  • Laundry services, including workers in laundromats, laundry services, and dry cleaners
  • Real estate, building, and home services, including construction workers, code officials, plumbers, electricians, HVAC technicians, property management, and maintenance workers
  • Retail financial institutions, including bank tellers, lending service, public accounting, and check cashing workers.
  • Sanitation, including workers providing disinfection and janitorial services for all essential facilities and modes of transportation; city sanitation workers; residential, commercial, and industrial solid and hazardous waste removal.
  • Utilities, including electrical generation and supply system, natural gas delivery, nuclear power plant, water supply, telephone, cable/fiber optical/broadband/cellular service workers
  • Higher Education, including educators and support staff
  • Librarians, including librarians and support staff at municipal, county, and state libraries (i.e. those not included in K-12 announcement)

To view complete eligibility information as determined by the State, please visit the dedicated City of Hoboken’s vaccine page at https://www.hobokennj.gov/vaccine.

Update on testing 

We encourage all residents to utilize our robust COVID-19 testing infrastructure whenever needed. As an update to the testing schedule, as of April 3, Riverside will test five days a week from Monday through Friday. Medicine Man Pharmacy will continue testing on Wednesdays and Saturdays, however will be closed on Saturday, April 3.

The State Department of Health has generously offered to continue testing every other Friday in April in the Hoboken Housing Authority, on April 9 and 23 from 1-7 pm at 221 Jackson Street, with no appointment needed.

As before, a common and understandable mistake we are seeing is that a COVID-19 test is scheduled too early after a potential exposure. The Hoboken Health Department recommends waiting at least 5-7 days after an exposure to get tested, in order to ensure accurate results.

Correction on Rebuild by Design 

To provide an update, the previously announced Rebuild by Design pre-construction meeting will take place on Wednesday, March 31 at 7:00 pm. More information about the meeting: https://www.hobokennj.gov/news/hoboken-njdep-invite-residents-to-pre-construction-meeting-on-the-rebuild-by-design-project

Updated CDC guidance on activities for vaccinated residents 

Fully vaccinated people can:

• Visit with other fully vaccinated people indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
• Visit with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 disease indoors without wearing masks or physical distancing
• Refrain from quarantine and testing following a known exposure if asymptomatic

For now, fully vaccinated people should continue to:

• Take precautions in public like wearing a well-fitted mask and physical distancing
• Wear masks, practice physical distancing, and adhere to other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people who are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease or who have an unvaccinated household member who is at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease
• Wear masks, maintain physical distance, and practice other prevention measures when visiting with unvaccinated people from multiple households
• Avoid medium- and large-sized in-person gatherings
• Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms
• Follow guidance issued by individual employers
• Follow CDC and health department travel requirements and recommendations

For additional guidelines and recommendations, please visit the CDC’s website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html

(information above from CDC.gov)

Two groups who have been there for Hoboken: CERT and Hoboken Food Pantry 

There have been so many residents who have given so much to our City over the past year, which includes two volunteer groups – the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and the Hoboken Food Pantry. I hope you’ll take the time to read these two articles highlighting their exemplary work, and helping keep our community safe throughout the pandemic.

CERT (via Hoboken Patch): https://patch.com/new-jersey/hoboken/year-helm-hoboken-coronavirus-hotline-what-volunteers-saw

Hoboken Food Pantry (via Hudson Reporter): https://hudsonreporter.com/2021/03/26/hoboken-food-pantry-celebrates-anniversary/

Thank you Hoboken – please stay safe.

Sincerely,

Ravi S. Bhalla
Mayor