Covid Update: Nearly 40% of County Residents Fully Vaccinated

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COURT HOUSE – The standard metrics regarding Covid, in Cape May County, show improvement. Yet, the county is still rated as having a high level of community transmission by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 
The tracking site Covid Act Now also shows the county at a very high risk for exposure to Covid. The culprit, in both ratings, is a new weekly average of 28 cases per day. 
The county recorded no new fatalities this week (April 13-19). Long-term care facilities in the county also had another week with zero active cases. The new cases are products of community spread. 
Current numbers are well below the county’s late fall and winter peaks. There are fewer than 300 active cases, at 294, as of April 19. This past week saw 194 new resident cases reported. 
These numbers reflect where the county was in early November. They are a clear improvement in numbers since then. Yet, roughly 28 residents, on average, are reported daily as having confirmed cases of Covid.
The concern for weeks has been the spread of new variants that may increase transmission. Reporting on the variant counts in the state dashboard is not as useful as it could be. 
State labs could not test large numbers of specimens for variant types, leading to undercounts. The CDC estimates that variant B.1.1.7, first detected in the United Kingdom, is present in about a third of New Jersey cases. 
If so, it is much more widely spread in the state than the state dashboard’s recent count of fewer than 700 cases. The White House this week announced a $2 billion plan to improve variant tracking.
On the vaccine front, the county is consistently at the top of the counties in the administration of the vaccine per 100,000 of population. The latest numbers show 77,377 total doses administered, with 45,324 individuals having received at least one dose and 35,161 fully vaccinated. 
The fully vaccinated numbers account for close to 40% of county residents. According to the CDC, 49% of the residents in the county ages 18 or older were fully vaccinated, and 71% of those 65 and older. This comes as the state opens eligibility to all those 16 and older. 
With Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine sidelined, it will put a greater burden on Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines, but officials believe supplies will be up to the challenge. 
For those 16 and 17 years old, Pfizer must be the alternative, since Moderna’s U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval is for individuals 18 and older.
U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) released data on vaccine hesitancy at county levels across the nation. Using recent federal survey information, the report states that 13% of Cape May County adults are hesitant about the vaccines, and 5% are strongly hesitant. The numbers declined in the last few months, as millions were vaccinated without many incidents.
On immunity, the CDC reports 5,800 individuals were confirmed as coming down with Covid after being fully vaccinated, with 77 of those individuals succumbing to the disease. That is out of nearly 80 million Americans that were fully vaccinated. 
The CDC expert panel will reconvene April 23 to discuss the pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. The meeting could end with a recommendation to rescind the pause. 
The pause could also be extended, or the vaccine’s approval could be modified. The panel has no operational authority, but the government could act to implement the guidance. 
This week also saw increasing consensus that the future may hold a need for booster shots, or even annual vaccinations. In congressional testimony, White House advisor Dr. David Kessler said variants may play a role in the need for further vaccination.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.