Union City & Weehawken EMT's & Healthcare Workers Receive COVID Vaccine Today

UNION CITY AND WEEHAWKEN TO ADMINISTER THE COVID-19 VACCINE FOR HEALTHCARE WORKERS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS

(UNION CITY, NJ) – Mayor Brian P. Stack and Mayor Richard F. Turner announced on Friday that Union City and Weehawken will begin administering the COVID-19 vaccine for healthcare workers and EMTs. On Saturday, December 26 , healthcare workers and EMTs will have an opportunity to receive the Moderna vaccine.

“We are so pleased to be able to partner with Weehawken to provide our frontline healthcare workers with the vaccine,” said Mayor Brian P. Stack. “These are our healthcare workers and EMTs, who are called upon to treat patients who have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 virus.”

The New Jersey Department of Health has set forth a vaccination plan that local health departments should follow to prioritize those who are vaccinated. Currently, we are in Category 1A and will issue vaccinations to those individuals in the healthcare field such as nurses, doctors, and EMTs. Category 1B will cover first responders (police and fire) and essential workers and people 75 years and older with underlying health conditions. Category 1C will cover persons aged 16-64 years with medical conditions that increase the risk for severe COVID-19. Subsequently, the general public will be able to be vaccinated upon further notification by the CDC and NJDOH hopefully by spring and depending upon the supply of vaccines.

“Providing vaccinations to our frontline healthcare workers is critical,” said Mayor Richard F. Turner. “We must take care of the workers who are treating our family, friends, and neighbors suffering from this terrible virus.”

Once healthcare workers have been vaccinated, Union City and Weehawken will offer vaccines to first responders and essential employees and continue through each category until vaccines are administered to any resident who wants to receive the vaccine.

“It is so important, especially in such a dense population community, that we get the message out there that the vaccine is safe and effective. When we start vaccinating residents, we want them to be optimistic in the successfulness of the vaccine and comfortable being vaccinated,” Stack said.

“Vaccines are the only way we are going to combat the COVID-19 virus. We want our employees and residents to know that we are confident in the vaccine and the vaccination process and want to encourage eligible employees and residents to get vaccinated,” Turner said.