NJBIZ

NJ’s public health emergency extended

Gov. Phil Murphy is extending the state’s public health emergency for the 14th consecutive month as the state ramps up its vaccine capabilities and grapples with the presence of several highly infectious COVID-19 variants.

The order, Murphy said, has to be renewed every 30 days in order to keep in place the litany of public health restrictions and reallocate public health resources toward the pandemic.

A state of emergency has been in place for the entirety of the pandemic.

In 2020, he extended the public health emergency on April 7, May 6, June 4, July 2, Aug. 1 and 27, Sept. 25, Oct. 24, Nov. 22 and Dec. 21. Then this year, he extended it on Jan. 19, Feb. 17 and March 17.

Gov. Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy receive the first dose of the COVID-19 Vaccine on April 9, 2021 – EDWIN J. TORRES/GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

“Our vaccination program is expanding vigorously and quickly, but COVID-19 remains a threat to New Jerseyans,” the governor said in an April 15 evening statement. “As we move to extend vaccine eligibility to all residents of our state, the need for all available resources could not be more important.”

The vaccines are a vital component of permanently rolling back restrictions on businesses, travel and public gatherings, which have been in place this past year to keep the spread of the virus at bay.

The current goal is to fully vaccinate 4.7 million New Jersey adults by June 30, a timeline Murphy said is still feasible despite an abrupt pause this week on the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

As of April 15, the state fully vaccinated 2.3 million New Jerseyans. Eligibility expands on April 19 to everyone at least 16 years old.

Murphy first enacted the public health emergency on March 9 last year, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to take hold across the state. Since then, the governor practically shut the state down and then slowly reopened it, by allowing businesses, schools and public gatherings to take place with mask requirements and reduced capacities.

State health officials have been racing to vaccinate New Jerseyans as they try to prevent the spread of these new COVID-19 variants, a phenomenon known as herd immunity.

This surge in more contagious strands, especially one first detected in the United Kingdom, means the existing COVID-19 wave could last through mid-April and then gradually coast down over the summer. Or in a worst-case scenario, hospitalizations and daily cases would peak from May to June, meaning a “long, hot summer” for the state, Murphy warned.

Neither the worst nor moderate-case projections for the second wave this winter panned out. And the spread has in the past few days showed signs of slowing down.

Weekly NJ jobless claims drop 45% as unemployment rate stalls for months

New week-to-week jobless claims in New Jersey amid the pandemic nearly halved as the state’s unemployment rate stubbornly hovers just below 8%, according to data from the federal and state labor departments.

For the week ending April 10, there were 10,743 people in the state who filed for unemployment, a roughly 45% drop from the 19,875 people who filed claims the prior week, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

New Jersey’s unemployment rate for March clocked in at 7.7%, a rate it’s been at since last year. The unemployment rate was 7.8% in both February and January, and 7.7% in December 2020.

All told, more than 2.1 million people in the state have filed for unemployment since March 2020, when Gov. Phil Murphy ordered sweeping business closures and restrictions in a bid to halt the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the state.

Since then, the state has given out $26.5 billion in federal and state unemployment benefits, with the unemployment rate surging to all-time record highs in the past 13 months. More than 100,000 people in the state have been without work that entire time, according to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

State labor officials estimated that this latest drop in new claims was driven mainly by schools reopening after spring break.

Angela Delli-Santi, a spokesperson for the NJDOLWD, said that school employees typically file for unemployment benefits while they are out of work during that spring break period – “kind of like being furloughed.”

“While the number of people filing new claims for unemployment has not returned to pre-pandemic levels, the numbers are thankfully much lower than what we were witnessing a year ago,” reads an April 15 statement from state Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo.

Data released April 15 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the state added 20,800 new jobs to the private sector in March, up from 10,700 jobs added in February and a minuscule 900 jobs added to the state’s workforce in January.

Leisure and hospitality accounted for more than half of those new jobs in February, making up 6,400 of new job positions.

They made up 5,700 of the new jobs in March, as indoor dining expanded from 35% to 50% capacity, and as warmer weather allowed more patrons to dine outdoors. Education and health service made up 3,800 of the new jobs added in March, followed by trade, transportation and utilities, which accounted for 3,300 of those new jobs.

“Retail sales grew a truly staggering amount in March, industrial production continues to expand steadily, and new claims for unemployment insurance declined sharply in the most recent week,” said former chief state economist Charles Steindel in an April 15 statement from the conservative think tank Garden State Initiative.

State finances are expected to be flush with cash for at least the next 15 months, with pent up consumer demand slated to trigger an explosion of economic activity in the upcoming weeks and months.

1 in 5 still don’t plan to be vaccinated against COVID

About 1 in 5 American adults remain unwilling to get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to data from The Monmouth University Poll released April 14.

The poll also finds that President Joe Biden is getting high marks for his handling of the pandemic. Nearly half of the public feels the country is heading in the right direction—an eight-year polling high for Monmouth.

The 21% of Americans still opposed to getting inoculated is down slightly from 24% in January and March. The number of those who wanted to wait and see how getting the shot for other people went has dropped from 21% to 12%.

Patrick Murray, director, Monmouth University Polling Institute — Murray

“The number of people who have been skittish about the vaccine has dropped as more Americans line up for the shot, but the hardcore group who want to avoid it at all costs has barely budged. The recent news about J&J vaccines is probably not going to help that situation. On the other hand, it might not make it all that much worse since much of this reluctance is really ingrained in partisan identity,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute in a prepared statement.

The poll found partisanship as a distinguishing factor among those who want to avoid the vaccine altogether: 43% of whom are Republican versus just 5% are Democrat. Another 22% of Independents say they want to avoid getting the vaccine as well.

Broken down by age, 25% of those unwilling to get vaccinated are under 65, and 11% are seniors; and white people and people of color are 22% and 20% interested in avoiding the vaccine if possible, respectively.

Approximately half (51%) of adults have received at least one shot, and 14% say they’ll line up for it as soon as they’re allowed.

Biden’s approval rating is now 54%, up last month from 51%. In his handling of the pandemic, 62% say Biden has done a good job while 31% say he’s done a bad job. Approximately 6 in 10 (63%) of respondents support the $1.9 trillion COVID stimulus package enacted last month, while 34% oppose it.

Congress, on the other hand, has a 35% approval and 56% disapproval rating, which matches the prior high recorded by Monmouth (35% in January 2021) in national polling going back to 2013. Those who say America is headed in the right direction has hit an eight-year high.

“It may be less than a majority, but the number of people who feel positive about the nation’s trajectory is easily at its highest point in a long time,” Murray said.

The Monmouth University Poll was conducted by telephone from April 8 to 12, 2021 with 800 adults. The margin of error is +/- 3.5%.

NJ health officials scramble to reschedule J&J vaccinations

State health officials said April 14 they are slated to reschedule thousands of New Jersey adults who are in line to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, amid a state and national pause on its use.

That follows news that six recipients of the J&J shot developed rare blood clots, out of the roughly 7 million Americans who received that vaccine.

In New Jersey, 235,000 people who received the J&J vaccine out of the 5.6 million doses administered since Dec. 15 last year. The state received roughly 15,600 J&J doses this week.

“I want to repeat that no one who has received this vaccine should panic or worry,” Gov. Phil Murphy said at a Wednesday, April 14 daily COVID-19 press briefing. “This review by the [Centers for Disease Control] and the [Food and Drug Administration] is coming out of an abundance of caution.”

The CDC is scheduled to review the cases at their April 14 meeting, which began at 1:30 p.m.

“They’re not going to walk out of the room today without providing some guidance,” said Eddy Bresnitz, the state’s COVID-19 medical advisor. “People are going to want to know ‘can we put forward the vaccine,’ that’s a big decision that needs to be made, but it needs to be made quickly.”

Gov. Phil Murphy tours the Elizabeth Seaport COVID-19 Vaccination Site on April 6, 2021, with Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli, Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage, International Longshoreman's Association International President Harold Daggett, and New York Shipping Association President John Nardi.E — Gov. Phil Murphy tours the Elizabeth Seaport COVID-19 Vaccination Site on April 6, 2021, with Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli, Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage, International Longshoreman’s Association International President Harold Daggett, and New York Shipping Association President John Nardi. – EDWIN J. TORRES/GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

The pause could wield a blow to plans from elected leaders like Murphy and President Joe Biden to reach a semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy by the summer. Biden’s White House has assured that the goals are still reachable.

And Murphy has reiterated that he believes the state will still fully vaccinate 4.7 million adults by the end of June. That number stands at nearly 2.3 million people as of April 14. Full vaccine eligibility opens on April 19 to everyone over the age of 16.

“The total number of doses administered of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is just under 5.4 million, and the stability in their supply and distribution is why we remain confident of our ability to still meet our June 30 vaccination goals,” the governor said.

Those both require two shots spaced roughly a month apart, unlike the single-shot J&J version. That, coupled with the much more mild storage temperature requirements, made the J&J shots a far more attractive option.

The worst-hit sites were those only offering the J&J vaccine, said New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. None of them have the infrastructure in place to accept the Pfizer or Moderna doses, and so patients scheduled to receive the J&J shot need to be moved elsewhere. It is not clear how many sites are only offering the J&J shot.

None of the mega-sites have been affected, nor was Hackensack Meridian Health in Bergen County, according to Persichilli.

“The large sites are keeping the appointments and filling them with Moderna or Pfizer,” Persichilli said.

Health officials at Ocean, Monmouth and Somerset counties are in the process of moving J&J patients over to the Pfizer or Moderna versions, Persichilli added.

But it’s not certain that the state is receiving any added doses beyond the current weekly allotment.

New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli takes part in a meeting with Gov. Phil Murphy, First Lady Tammy Murphy, New Jersey State Police Colonel Patrick Callahan White House Coronavirus Task Force head Dr. Deborah Birx and Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway at the university's New Brunsiwck campus on Oct. 6, 2020. — New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli takes part in a meeting with Gov. Phil Murphy, First Lady Tammy Murphy, New Jersey State Police Colonel Patrick Callahan White House Coronavirus Task Force head Dr. Deborah Birx and Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway at the university’s New Brunsiwck campus on Oct. 6, 2020. – EDWIN J. TORRES/GOVERNOR’S OFFICE

State officials will not dip into the Pfizer and Moderna second-dose supply. But Persichilli said the state is telling local health officials and executives to shorten how long they’re reserving shots for the second dose, down from three weeks to two weeks.

Vaccine sites are being told to properly store and monitor their J&J vaccines until there is more federal health guidance.

Some of the worst-affected will be the hard-to-reach and vulnerable populations, such as the homeless, elderly and lower-income, urban New Jerseyans. State and local health officials were hoping to use the J&J vaccine to reach those demographics, given the easier transportation and storage requirements.

“Those persons will be impacted and may have to be scheduled to alternate sites if that is possible,” the health commissioner said. “Although it would be more complex to administer a two-dose vaccine for some of those special populations, if we need to go forward with a two-dose vaccine… we are committed to equitable access to those vaccines.”

But the process for delivering those doses still has to be hashed out, Murphy and Persichilli said.

“We will get to them. It’s just going to be more complicated or take longer,” the governor said.

NJ opens preregistration for $85M of COVID business relief April 19

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority is opening preregistration on April 19 at 9:00 a.m. for businesses to apply for some of the $85 million in COVID-19 monetary relief, with applications set to formally open at the start of May.

That preregistration process is a required first step to be considered for grant funding, according to the NJEDA, and will be open online until April 29 at 5:00 p.m.

NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan delivers remarks as Gov. Phil Murphy signs Assembly Bill 5446 into law at Jammin’ Crepes in Princeton, on April 12, 2021. (Josue Lora/ NJ Governor's Office). — NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan delivers remarks as Gov. Phil Murphy signs Assembly Bill 5446 into law at Jammin’ Crepes in Princeton, on April 12, 2021. – JOSUE LORA/ OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

“Certainly brighter days are ahead for small businesses … but this pandemic is still very real and very present,” Tim Sullivan, who heads the NJEDA, said at a remotely-held board meeting April 14.

Closures, reduced capacity, sanitization requirements and other COVID-19 restrictions have devastated businesses up and down the state, triggering some of the highest unemployment rates in decades.

Gov. Phil Murphy approved the $100 million in grant funding, paid for by the Trump-era federal COVID-19 relief package from 2020. GOP and Democratic lawmakers want a greater say in how $6.4 billion of upcoming federal aid would be used to help keep afloat businesses.

A $15 million pot of grant funding for pandemic-hit arts, theater and culture organizations will be jointly administered by the NJEDA and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Applications for that will move forward at a later date, according to an NJEDA spokesperson.

According to the governor’s office, over the past year the NJEDA awarded $250 million in grants, low-interest loans and other forms of COVID-19 monetary relief to roughly 55,000 businesses.

Sullivan said that the grant money will “help these businesses stabilize their operations and minimize potential furlough or layoffs.”

Micro-businesses – those with up to five full time employees – are eligible for grants of up to $10,000, as are sole proprietors. One of the bills Murphy approved sets aside $25 million for that purpose.

Grants are capped at up to $15,000 for businesses with between six and 25 full-time employees and up to $20,000 for businesses with between 26 and 50 full-time employees. Grant sizes can be calculated online.

In addition to the micro-business funding, the state is setting aside $35 million for pandemic-hit bars and restaurants, $10 million for child care services, and $15 million for businesses that do not meet these other criteria.

Businesses that did not apply for or not get grants under a prior round of nearly $146 million of state grants can begin applying on May 3 at 9:00 a.m. Following that are restaurants and child care providers who can apply beginning two days later at 9:00 a.m. on May 5, then micro businesses at 9:00 a.m. on May 10, and any other businesses at 9:00 a.m. on May 12.

Murphy approves final bill in $100M business COVID-relief package

Gov. Phil Murphy on April 13 approved the last piece of legislation in a $100 million business COVID-relief package – a bill allocating $10 million to support child care services across the state.

The latest infusion of cash is seen by proponents as a key measure in helping working parents transition back to the workplace.

“Without the commitment of child care providers so many of our frontline essential workers would have been unable to go to work filling so many important needs,” reads a April 13 statement from Acting Human Services Commissioner Sarah Adelman.

Child care providers have struggled for the duration of the pandemic, thanks to COVID-19 restrictions and a surge of parents working for home.

Like the other $90 million of programs Murphy approved, this is being financed via federal funds from the Trump-era COVID-19 stimulus plan.

“Child care providers are absolutely critical to New Jersey’s workforce, and the COVID-19 pandemic has hit them especially hard,” the governor said in a statement. “This legislation will help to ensure that these providers can continue to weather the pandemic and remain open and able to meet the needs of so many New Jerseyans who rely on them.”

Over the past two weeks, Murphy approved four other small business relief bills–all out of a $100 million package of employer assistance that lawmakers proposed.

This legislation will help to ensure that these providers can continue to weather the pandemic and remain open and able to meet the needs of so many New Jerseyans who rely on them.
— Gov. Phil Murphy

“The impact” of the grants “could be seen up and down our streets for the thousands of small businesses whose doors remain open,” Murphy said April 12 at a bill-signing ceremony at Jammin’ Crepes in Princeton.

A $35 million pot of grant money is being set aside for COVID-hit bars and restaurants, while $15 million of grants will go to arts and culture organizations, $15 million toward small businesses and nonprofits, and $25 million to businesses with up to five employees.

Those funds will be overseen by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, which is convening April 14 to hash out rules for $85 million of those grants. Some portions of the money will be jointly operated by the NJEDA and other state agencies.

According to the governor’s office, the NJEDA awarded $250 million in grants, low-interest loans and other forms of COVID-19 monetary relief to roughly 55,000 businesses over the past year.

“This is … an economic crisis that is coming to an end but still very real for small businesses,” Tim Sullivan, who heads the NJEDA, said this week. The funds, he assured, will “get out the door prudentially, judiciously, but expeditiously.”

State lawmakers have been pushing for a greater say in how the state spends federal aid, especially the $6.4 billion that the state will get under President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, including more business grants amid the pandemic.

During an April 6 budget hearing, Senate Budget Chair Paul Sarlo, D-36th District, pressed New Jersey State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio on whether “we have commitments from you that your administration will work with the Legislature” on how to spend the money, something which the administration said it very much favors.

NJ pausing J&J vaccine use following federal advisories (updated)

New Jersey health officials and several local hospitals are pausing their roll-out of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, following an advisory sent out by the Biden administration April 13.

“Out of an abundance of caution … the New Jersey Department of Health this morning paused the administration of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine across all vaccination sites in the state,” New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said in an April 13 statement.

“All New Jersey vaccination sites have been told to cancel or put on hold appointments for the J&J vaccine until further notice,” she continued. “For individuals scheduled to receive the J&J vaccine, the department will work with all vaccination sites to make arrangements for the administration of an alternative two-dose vaccine.”

Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli joins Gov. Phil Murphy as he conducts a vaccine site visit at Kean University on March 26, 2021. – JOSUE LORA FOR THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

It is not clear how many New Jersey adults this will affect. Persichilli said the state is getting 15,600 J&J doses this week– the rest are Pfizer or Moderna.

Representatives from the Burlington and Hudson Counties vaccination mega-sites said they are both halting the use of the J&J vaccine. Officials at both sites said they do not expect the latest development to disrupt this week’s COVID-19 vaccination appointments.

Earlier on April 13, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration urged a nationwide “pause” of the J&J vaccine, following reports that the shot is associated with increased risks of blood clots in some patients. Federal officials say they want time to review the safety of the J&J vaccine, but they noted that the blood clots are a microscopic percentage of the 7 million doses so far administered. This point was reiterated by Persichilli and J&J executives.

“The adverse reactions … appear to be very rare,” Gov. Phil Murphy said at a morning press conference in Paramus, noting that none of these symptoms have arisen in the roughly 235,000 New Jerseyans who got the J&J vaccine. “No one who has received this vaccine should panic or worry.”

But, he continued, “a pause for further investigation is a precautionary and smart step” that will serve to “ensure confidence” in the vaccine.

“We are aware of an extremely rare disorder involving people with blood clots in combination with low platelets in a small number of individuals who have received our COVID-19 vaccine,” reads a J&J statement. “We have been working closely with medical experts and health authorities, and we strongly support the open communication of this information to health care professionals and the public.”

Four New Jersey hospitals issued statements or responded via email saying they are pausing use: University Hospital in Newark; Atlantic Health System based in Morristown, which owns and operates several hospitals across North Jersey; Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck and Valley Health System based in Ridgewood.

An advisory meeting with the Center for Disease Control is scheduled for April 14 to discuss how public health officials should move forward with the J&J vaccine.

The pause could wield a blow to plans from elected leaders like Murphy and President Joe Biden to reach a semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy by the summer.

But Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, assured that the announcement “will not have a significant impact on our vaccination plan,” as the J&J doses make up just 5% of the shots in people’s arms.

State health officials were expecting J&J vaccines to make up 1 million of the 8.5 million doses expected by the end of June, the rest being the two-shot versions from Pfizer and Moderna.

Murphy assured on April 13 that the state would still be able to reach its goal of fully vaccinating 4.7 million adults by the end of June, despite the pause on J&J vaccines.

“The department will await further guidance from the federal government. The federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss these adverse events and make recommendations to the CDC on how to proceed,” Persichilli continued.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 12:09 p.m. EST on April 13, 2021, to include remarks from representatives from the Burlington and Hudson Counties vaccination mega-sites and Gov. Phil Murphy, and to update the list of hospitals in N.J. pausing use of the vaccine to include Holy Name Medical Center and Valley Health System.

Feds recommend ‘pause’ on J&J vaccine following blood clot reports

U.S. health officials are urging the nation to “pause” the use of any Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines, following reports that the shot is associated with increased risks of blood clots in some patients, further jeopardizing national efforts for a summer of normalcy.

“[COVID-19] vaccine safety is a top priority for the federal government, and we take all reports of health problems following COVID-19 vaccination very seriously,” reads an April 13 morning tweet from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Today FDA and @CDCgov issued a statement regarding the Johnson & Johnson #COVID19 vaccine. We are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution.

— U.S. FDA (@US_FDA) April 13, 2021

The FDA continued that it, along with the Center for Disease Control, are investigating “six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals after receiving the vaccine,” but assured that those cases “appear to be extremely rare.”

A CDC meeting is scheduled for April 14 to discuss the cases, and “until that process is complete, we are recommending this pause.”

The pause could wield a blow to plans for elected leaders like Gov. Phil Murphy and President Joe Biden to reach a semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy by the summer.

New Jersey’s goal is to reach the arms of 4.7 million adults by the end of June, which Murphy said on April 12 would rely on a combination of 1 million one-shot J&J doses, and 7.4 million doses of the two-shot Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The state fully vaccinated 2.2 million adults as of April 12, and health officials are vying to get enough shots in the arm to counter surges fueled by the more contagious B.1.1.7 variants.

A major drop-off of J&J doses thanks to manufacturing errors at a Baltimore plant last month means 15 million doses went to waste.

Dose supply of the J&J shots in New Jersey cratered from 131,000 doses last week to 15,600 doses this week and just 5,200 viles next week, according to New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli.

But Murphy said he was “comfortable” that the expected dose supply means the late June goal is “well within our reach.” Persichilli agreed, calling the timeline “reasonable.”

A 52-year-old Edison man reportedly developed pneumonia after getting the J&J inoculation in early March, and tested positive for COVID-19 a month later, according to abc7ny.com. He is now in critical condition at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison.

“It will happen,” Persichilli said. “The efficacy could be close to 100%, but there are also a percentage of cases that are either contracted COVID-19 before they got vaccinated or were exposed afterward and will fall ill.”

Rockefeller Foundation names Newark in $20M equitable COVID vaccination plan

The Rockefeller Foundation announced April 13 that it selected Newark as one of five pilot cities to launch a historic $20 million equity-first vaccination initiative to improve the vaccination rate among communities of color, which have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The foundation will invest in United Way of Greater Newark’s public education campaign to improve confidence in the vaccine among Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), women, the homeless, youth aging out of foster care, undocumented residents and other communities. Additionally, United Way of Greater Newark will partner with community partners throughout the city to deliver vaccines through mobile vaccine units in these same communities.

“Equitable vaccine distribution has been a challenge throughout our country, but especially in majority Black and Brown communities that have historically suffered high poverty rates, poor educational outcomes and poor health outcomes as a result of systemic racism,” said Catherine Wilson, president and chief executive officer of United Way of Greater Newark. “We’re excited to be partnering with The Rockefeller Foundation on this important initiative so we can continue working with our cross-sector partners to ensure members of our Newark community have the information they need to make informed decisions about the COVID-19 vaccine and the ability to access it when they are eligible.”

The foundation will initially collaborate with five organizations, including United Way of Greater Newark, to deploy equity-first, hyper-local public health interventions in Baltimore, Md.; Chicago, Ill.; Houston, Texas; and Oakland, Calif.

During the second phase of the initiative, the foundation will collaborate with several national organizations to take lessons learned from the first five cities and ensure that at least 70 million people of color are vaccinated by July 2021.

“Because of existing structural inequalities—including health care access, wealth gaps and systematic racism—people of color have been much more likely to both contract COVID-19 and die from this virus,” said Otis Rolley, senior vice president for the U.S. Equity and Economic Opportunity Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation. “The Rockefeller Foundation is launching this initiative because a vaccination strategy that does not seek to directly combat inequities stands to further entrench them.”

NJ posts 2,000 COVID cases as wave slows over weekend

The latest wave of COVID-19 outbreaks showed signs of slowing down over the weekend, as state health officials race to vaccinate millions of New Jersey adults by the summer.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced on April 12 that the state logged another 2,079 COVID-19 cases–the lowest in five weeks. The seven-day average was 3,173 cases, down 18% from last week but still 8% up from last month.

The state logged a “relatively stable” range of COVID-19 patients: 2,261 by the latest count, Murphy said. Second-wave hospitalizations peaked at 3,873 on Dec. 22, 2020, and were more than 8,000 in April 2020.

But the biggest indicator that the pandemic is slowing was the drop in transmission rate, which fell below 1 for the first time in months.

Saturday’s rate was .98, down from 1.07 on April 5. The transmission rate announced April 4 stood at .94. Anything above 1 means that for every one person who gets infected with COVID-19, they spread it to at least one other person.

“Also, remember that the rate of transmission is calculated using a seven-day rolling average of positive test reports, so this number tells us that we are currently seeing a gradual decrease in the rate of spread,” the governor continued.

New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli warned though, that the fatality count, and the number of patients on ventilators have both gone up in recent days.

“Definitely our testing shows that the younger demographic account for the highest percent of the test,” she added

State health officials are aiming to vaccinate 4.7 million adults – those over the age of 16 – by June 30. The vaccines are a vital component of permanently rolling back restrictions on businesses, travel and public gatherings, which have been in place this past year to keep the spread of the virus at bay.

The state fully vaccinated 2.2 million adults as of April 12, and health officials are vying to get enough shots in the arm to counter these surges fueled by the more contagious B.1.1.7 variants.

The best and moderate-case scenarios call for hospitalizations and daily cases to peak on April 19 and then coast down over the summer. A worst-case scenario calls for a peak dragging on from May to June, in what Murphy described as a “long hot summer.

Full eligibility opens up on April 19, fueling a worsening “supply-demand imbalance,” but Murphy has defended that approach, which has left more people vying for a COVID-19 vaccine than there are in the available supply of doses.

“I would much rather be where we are, with doses getting into arms nearly as fast as they are arriving, than to have millions of doses sitting unused in a freezer,” he said.

A widespread shortage of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson doses is expected to crater in the coming weeks, thanks to a manufacturing mishap that led to 15 million doses going to waste.

New Jersey got 550,000 doses of the COVID-19 shot last week, split among the two-shot Pfizer and Moderna versions and 131,000 doses of the J&J version, according to Persichilli.

That drops to 466,000 doses this week, including a drop to just 15,600 J&J doses. Next week, the expected J&J dosage supply drops to just 5,200 viles.

Murphy greenlights $15M small business COVID relief

Gov. Phil Murphy signs Assembly Bill 5446 into law at Jammin’ Crepes in Princeton, on April 12, 2021. (Josue Lora/ NJ Governor's Office). — Gov. Phil Murphy signs Assembly Bill 5446 into law at Jammin’ Crepes in Princeton, on April 12, 2021. – JOSUE LORA/ OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

New Jersey small businesses and nonprofits battered by the pandemic will be able to apply for state aid under a new $15 million grant program Gov. Phil Murphy approved on April 12.

The state assistance is meant to help employers that have taken massive financial hits because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past two weeks, Murphy approved three other small business relief bills–all out of a $100 million package of employer assistance. Those funds are coming out of the state’s Trump-era federal COVID-relief grants.

A $35 million pot of money is being set aside for COVID-hit bars and restaurants, while $15 million of grants will go to arts and culture organizations and $25 million to businesses with up to five employees. A final bill that has yet to be approved allocates $10 million for daycare.

“The impact” of the grants “could be seen up and down our streets for the thousands of small businesses whose doors remain open,” Murphy said at the April 12 bill-signing ceremony at Jammin’ Crepes in Princeton.

Like the other three programs, this $15 million tranche of funding is being overseen by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, which over the past year has awarded an estimated $250 million of grants, low-interest loans and other forms of COVID-19 monetary relief to roughly 55,000 businesses.

Tim Sullivan, the NJEDA’s chief executive officer, said the rules and application process for these programs will be voted on at the upcoming Wednesday board meeting.

“This is … an economic crisis that is coming to an end but still very real for small businesses,” he said on Monday. The funds, he assured, will “get out the door prudentially, judiciously, but expeditiously.”

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