The impact of COVID-19 is still waning in New Jersey, but the deadly virus continues to take its toll, with hospitals reporting nearly two dozen deaths daily over the past week.
Recent fatalities include two infants, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday, bringing to 14 the total number of minors who have died in New Jersey in connection with COVID-19. “Thank God there have not been many (pediatric deaths), but each and every one is a loss of a precious, precious young life,” he said at his weekly pandemic media briefing.
These realities — along with lagging uptake on COVID-19 booster shots — prompted state officials to declare the kickoff of Boost NJ2 Week for next Wednesday. The state health department is working with Walmart and other vaccination clinic hosts to promote the event, which will include pop-up clinics and potential giveaways designed to encourage more people to get this critical third shot.
Open invitation for kids
“I hope everyone who is not yet up to date on their vaccinations will join us between February 23 and March 1 to get vaccinated,” state health commissioner Judy Persichilli said Wednesday. “I especially want to encourage all parents of children ages 5 and up to please visit one of our hundreds of vaccination locations and get your children vaccinated.”
While 77% of eligible New Jerseyans are considered fully vaccinated — with a single Johnson & Johnson shot or two doses of the Moderna or Pfizer serum — just 51% have also received a booster shot months later, Persichilli said. State data shows these additional shots drastically reduce the likelihood of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death, especially against the highly transmissible omicron variant that exploded here in December.
Immunization rates vary widely in New Jersey with age, geography and other factors, however, leaving young children less protected. While six in 10 kids ages 12 to 17 have received all their shots, less than three in 10 youngsters in the 5-11 age group have done so.
Federal officials planned next week to consider approving smaller doses for children 6 months to 4 years old, but the review has since been postponed until later this spring. Persichilli said Wednesday that the state continues to meet with pediatricians and take other steps to plan for the eventual rollout.
Uptick in pediatric cases
While children are generally less susceptible to serious illness from COVID-19 they are not immune, and pediatric case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths have ticked up in recent months due to the unprecedented omicron surge. Six minors in New Jersey have died since Christmas alone, according to state data, five of them infants.
With omicron’s impact slackening, cases and hospitalizations are down across all age groups in recent weeks. The COVID-19 infection rate among school-age children is roughly a third of what it was the second week in January, state data indicates. The rate among teachers is less than one-sixth of that reported at the same point. Still, 124 students and 54 educators caught the virus in class just last week, according to state figures.
“Omicron is still among us — it may have fewer targets, but it is still out among us,” Murphy said. “The numbers are clearly headed dramatically in the right direction,” he added, but it is not yet warm enough to spend days outside where transmission is less likely. “Make sure you are protected for the rest of the winter and get boosted,” he said.
The idea for Boost NJ2 Week came from leaders at Walmart, Persichilli explained, and is based on the mega-chain’s success during the state’s initial Boost NJ Day promotion, held on Dec. 15 to mark the one-year anniversary of New Jersey’s first COVID-19 vaccination. Nearly 45,000 New Jerseyans were vaccinated that day at government-run sites, community clinics and pharmacies, she said, including 6,500 who got their shots at a Walmart.
Residents can now get COVID-19 shots at nearly 2,000 locations statewide. Persichilli said almost 200 sites have signed up to participate in the upcoming Boost NJ2 Week promotion, including schools and churches, universities, hospitals, drugstores and government clinics. A mobile unit will also be dispatched in Paterson, she said, and health department leaders plan to visit facilities in Trenton, Lakewood and Wayne to help mark the event.
