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With nearly 70% of New Jersey adults fully vaccinated against COVID, the state has the eighth highest vaccination rate in the country, according to federal data.
More than 5.11 million people who live, work or study in the state have now been fully immunized, according to state data.
But there are still large communities that are lagging behind, state officials note.
The state continues to focus on increasing vaccinations in areas with lower rates, Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said at Monday’s coronavirus briefing.
Among municipalities with more than 10,000 residents, Lakewood and Phillipsburg are tied for the lowest rate, with just 39% of the adult population fully vaccinated, according to data from June 13 on the COVID Vaccination Dashboard of the ‘State. Vaccination rates in both municipalities have increased by 4% in the past four weeks.
Warren County officials challenged state data on Phillipsburg last week, saying many of its residents were likely vaccinated across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania and therefore are not in the data from New Jersey.
The next lowest immunization cities based on state data are New Brunswick (41%), Bridgeton (42%), Irvington (42%) and East Orange (43%). They were followed by Trenton (45%), Camden (46%), Glassboro (47%) and Orange (49%).
Persichilli said the Department of Health currently had “county ambassadors” working with elected officials, local public health departments and community groups to increase vaccination rates in 11 counties: Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Passaique and Union.
“The collaborations help drive up fares and also provide insight into these communities,” she said.
She said the Department of Health’s data team is working with community leaders to establish trends in the numbers, citing New Brunswick as telling a different story than what the numbers show.
“We have determined that their coverage is actually over 70% when you factor in the number of students living off campus in New Brunswick who need to be vaccinated to return to Rutgers,” she said.
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Karin Price Mueller can be contacted at [email protected].
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