Union City Seniors Among First in NJ to Receive Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccine

With the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine now the third on the market, officials are hoping that more and more New Jersey residents will be inoculated, and in a much quicker fashion.  Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines which require two doses three or fours weeks apart, the J&J vaccine only requires one shot.

On Friday morning, several senior citizens from Union City’s Union Plaza Apartments on Palisade Avenue were among the first people in New Jersey to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.  Governor Phil Murphy, NJ Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky, Mayor and State Senator Brian Stack and Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise were among the officials in attendance to witness five residents get their vaccinations.

Governor Murphy, needless to say is thrilled with the Johnson & Johnson rollout, saying “this vaccine is a game changer in our fight to protect residents, to save lives and to defeat this virus.”

Gorsky stated he could not have more pride.  “To think thirteen months ago our scientists took some numbers on a screen and turned it into a vaccine that was administered today, safe, effective, one shot brings tears to my eyes.”

When asked by Hudson TV to react to reports that the county is lagging far behind the rest of New Jersey’s counties in terms of the number of residents who have been vaccinated, County Executive DeGise stated, “Those are very misleading numbers.  Hudson is the smallest county geographically.  Those numbers, what the percentage indicates, the number of vaccinations given as opposed to our population.  Every bit of dosage that has come our way…we put into the arms of people.  If they gave us more dosages, we would put it into more arms.”

Hudson County has only received an initial shipment of 1,500 Johnson & Johnson vaccines, the majority of which have gone to municipalities in North Hudson, like Union City.