Covid Update: Case Numbers Improve; Vaccine Rollout’s Slow

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COURT HOUSE – In terms of new Covid cases, this past week (Jan. 26-Feb. 1) was better than any since before Christmas. The county’s active cases declined by almost 80 individuals in the week ending Feb. 1. 
Fatalities moderated within the last week of January, producing three additional Covid-related deaths. Cape Regional Medical Center reports no Covid patients in intensive care, as of Feb. 1.
Eighty-nine percent of confirmed Covid cases among county residents since the pandemic began were moved off quarantine. 
The state’s COVID-19 Activity Level Index shows the southeast sector, comprised of Atlantic, Cumberland and Cape May counties, with a positivity level that is higher than desired, at 12.98%. However, that is coupled with a rate of transmission, which the county Health Department reports at .94, below the 1.0 threshold. Any rate below 1.0 means the rate of transmission of the virus is diminishing. 
While the numbers show improvement, they also show that the virus is still present. The goal of vaccinating as many adult county residents as possible by Memorial Day is running up against a shortage in the supply of vaccine doses to get the job done. 
The state dashboard shows 11,391 doses administered in the county, counting both first and second doses. It represents an efficient administration of the doses received. 
In a recent webinar, officials said the county Health Department is receiving about 400 doses a week. Appointments run out quickly and frustration builds. 
Other doses are distributed to the ShopRite Pharmacies that serve as state vaccination sites, but any attempt to schedule a shot onlinemeets witha message that appointments are full. That message has been displayed for weeks.
As of Feb. 1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data tracker shows 1,232,525 doses of the two approved vaccines distributed to New Jersey. Of those, the CDC said 810,293 were administered, including both first and second shots. That 66% administration rate put New Jersey 24th out of the 50 states. 
The state said it hasn’t received the doses it asked for from the federal government. The CDC shows one-third of the doses distributed to the state were not yet administered. 
State officials are saying the unadministered doses are not sitting idle, but were targeted for vulnerable populations in nursing homes. Those same officials admit there have been glitches in the federal Pharmacy Partnership Program, established to have CVS and Walgreens run vaccination programs at long-term care locations. 
Gov. Phil Murphy announced that the state’s allocation of doses from the federal government will increase for the next two weeks, up from 100,000 doses per week to 130,000 doses. What that means in terms of the distribution of the vaccine to the counties and other vaccination sites is unclear. 
With various entities in and out of the county receiving allotments of doses independently of each other, it is impossible to get a firm handle on who will receive what, when, and for what targeted population. This leaves people having to go to their computers daily to check for possible openings.
The state’s appointment system Feb. 1 showed no doses available for eligible individuals within 100 miles of Cape May County. The state opened eligibility to those over 65 without any clear ability to meet the demand. 
In other Covid news this week, new strains of the virus continue to appear. Health experts are publicly urging a speed up in the vaccination program to provide a more hostile environment for virus mutation. Dr. Anthony Fauci said this week that with a greater number of individuals vaccinated, the virus would replicate less. 
“Viruses cannot mutate if they don’t replicate,” he said. 
Fauci’s goal was to encourage people to get vaccinated. The problem in the county is that those individuals who are motivated to be vaccinated cannot find an appointment to get the shot. 
The number of the county’s vaccinated individuals increasesweekly, but at a pace that cannot achieve the goal of widespread vaccinations by the beginning of summer. 
County officials announced a second vaccination site at the field house at Lower Cape May Regional High School, but doses are needed to open it. 
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.