New Jersey hit a vaccination milestone Friday: Gov. Phil Murphy announced 70% of eligible people who live and work in the state are fully immunized against COVID-19. That beats his June 30 goal by a dozen days. But millions remain unprotected, and Murphy noted, “This is not mission accomplished.”
In some of New Jersey’s larger cities, fewer than 40% of adults are fully vaccinated, alarming some health officials who fear the highly infectious Delta variant of the coronavirus could spark a COVID-19 outbreak. The state is sending out “ambassadors” next week, focused on 60 cities and towns in 11 counties where pockets of vaccine resistance linger. It will also deploy the so-called triplets, three public health vans designed to host vaccination clinics in neighborhoods.
These are the 60 municipalities the state is sending the “ambassadors” to next week:
Bergen County: Cliffside Park, Elmwood Park, Fairview, Fort Lee, Garfield, Hackensack, Lodi, Lyndhurst, Mahwah, Wallington
Burlington County: Chesterfield, East Hampton, Maple Shade, New Hanover, North Hanover, Pemberton, Willingboro
Camden County: Camden, Gloucester Township, Winslow Township, Lindenwold Township
Essex County: Newark, East Orange, Irvington, Orange
Hudson County: Jersey City, Union City, Bayonne, North Bergen, West New York, Kearny
Mercer County: Trenton
Middlesex County: New Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Old Bridge, Piscataway, Woodbridge
Monmouth County: Asbury Park, Freehold Township, Hazlet, Howell, Keansburg, Long Branch, Middletown, Millstone, Neptune Township, West Long Branch
Ocean County: Brick, Jackson, Lacey, Lakewood, Toms River
Passaic County: Paterson, Passaic, Little Falls
Union County: Elizabeth, Plainfield, Linden, Roselle, Union
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