This past Wednesday, the state unveiled a beta version of an Appointment Finder application on its COVD-19 Information Hub. This new tool aggregates information across different scheduling platforms across the state, multiple times per hour, helping individuals find appointments. 

Earlier this week, the New Jersey Department of Health also shared its latest predictive COVID-19 modeling that is guiding the state’s decision-making processes on reopening. 

The state’s moderate case scenario is predicting that on April 18th, NJ will report 5,445 new COVID-19 positive cases statewide and 2,669 hospitalizations. Under this scenario the state does not see daily new cases drop below 3,000 until the middle of June 2021 at the earliest, and the number of hospitalizations would not approach 1,000 until August 2021. This model takes into account the expected increases in vaccinations statewide and also assumes that the COVID-19 vaccines will average 95% in their efficacy against all variants of the virus. Although these are projections, they are not certainties and as we saw last spring, if we remain vigilant and continue social distancing, we can change the trajectory of these models. 

Although there is continued uncertainty ahead, as of yesterday morning, 4,474,993 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been administered in NJ and there are 1,690,613 New Jerseyans who are now fully vaccinated. Additionally, next week the state expects to receive 551,320 COVID-19 vaccination doses which includes 131,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine. 

Also, this coming Monday April 5th, individuals in the following groups will become eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations: individuals aged 55-64, individuals aged 16+ with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, higher education educators and support staff, librarians and library support staff, and workers in the following jobs: communications, IT, media, real estate, building and home services, retail financial institutions, sanitation, laundry services, and utilities.  

As we move towards spring and the state continues to administer vaccination doses and lessen restrictions, we will continue providing updates.

Have a good weekend, and Happy Easter!

Sarah Neibart

Mayor, Mendham Township