Cape May County hopes for additional vaccines with J&J

By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff

The Cape May County Department of Health is hoping with the new Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine coming out, additional vaccine doses will be coming to the state and, by extension, the county.

As of the end of February on Sunday, there have been 28,118 doses of vaccine administered in the county by the Department of Health and other entities. That includes first and second doses.

“A major step forward in getting more vaccine doses available took place on Saturday,” the department announced in its daily release of statistics on Sunday. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave an emergency use authorization to the third COVID-19 vaccine. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is now available to be shipped out this week, including doses that will be coming to New Jersey. This vaccine only requires a single dose. This is on top of the additional production of the other two vaccines that is expected to continue to enhance availability in the coming weeks.”

To get information on vaccines, go online to capemaycountynj.gov.

Vaccine alerts announced

Cape May County announced Monday it will be using the “alert” feature on the county government website that will only be visible when there are appointment spots available at any of the county vaccination clinics. “The alert is at the top of the site and intended to let residents know that appointment slots are available through the NJVSS registration system in Cape May County.  When the alert is visible, residents who have received their ‘Time to Schedule’ email from the NJ Department of Health, should follow the resident-specific link provided in that email to schedule their appointment,” the county announced.

 “The ‘alert’ will not be visible when all of the available appointment spots are filled. Scheduling is limited to online only at this time.  Please do not call the Cape May County Health Department or clinic sites to schedule appointments,” county officials said Monday. 

The number of new and active cases of COVID-19 in the county is still at least five times as high as early fall, but has seen a roughly 50 percent decline since the peak in January.

There were four deaths over the past week attributed to the coronavirus. On Feb. 25, the department announced the deaths of a 47-year-old female from Lower Township and a 61-year-old female from Ocean City. On Feb. 24, it announced the deaths of an 87-year-old male from Middle Township and a 99-year-old female from Ocean City.

On Feb. 23, the department said the rate of transmission of the virus was at .92, meaning less than one new person is getting the virus from each infected person. 

On Sunday, the number of new active cases in the county was at 328, down from a January peak of more than 600. Middle Township had the most cases at 92, followed by Lower Township with 76, Ocean City with 38 and Upper Township with 26.

Other active cases include Dennis Township (19), Wildwood (16), Wildwood Crest (14), Woodbine (8), Cape May (7), Avalon (6), Sea Isle and Wildwood Crest (3 each) and Stone Harbor and West Cape May (2 each). There were no active cases in Cape May Point.

There were 23 new cases Sunday, including six in Lower Township, five in Middle Township, three each in Cape May and Wildwood, and one in Sea Isle City.

There were no new cases Sunday in Ocean City or Upper Township

There were four active non-resident cases in Cape May and six cases in long-term care – three in Woodbine, two in Middle Township and one in Ocean City.

There have been 85 fatalities in the communities attributed to COVID-19 and 96 in long-term care. Long-term care deaths have included 34 in Lower Township, 19 in Dennis Township, 17 in Middle Township, 15 in Ocean City and 11 in Woodbine.

In the communities, there have been seven deaths in Upper Township, nine in Ocean City, 21 in Lower Township and 20 in Middle Township.