Hudson County – the epicenter of the initial COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey and the country in March of 2020 – earned another distinction this weekend: It became the first urban county in New Jersey to reach the goal of having 70% of its residents vaccinated.
Hudson County officials also said every municipality in the county has reached the 70% goal of at least one dose of the vaccine. Secaucus is tops with an incredible 90% first-dose vaccination rate.
County Executive Tom DeGise said many organizations deserve credit for the milestone.
“This day would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of public health officials throughout the county, from our own vaccine task force to our mayors and their health officers in all 12 municipalities, to Gov. (Phil) Murphy and state officials who have provided us with the resources to make this happen,” he said. “We said all along that our model was working and we just needed the doses to get our people vaccinated, and I’m so proud of all of us for making this happen.”
DeGise said health officials throughout the county will continue working to vaccinate even more residents through a mixture of pop-up and mobile vaccine events, walk-in sites and the county’s drive-thru location at the USS Juneau Center.
Hudson county was among 11 across the state that were selected for closer monitoring and increased resources by the state in June. Carrie Nawrocki, the executive director of Hudson Regional Health Commission, said the milestone shows how far the county has come.
“This accomplishment has taken hard work by so many of our public health leaders and elected officials as well as the cooperation of our residents, many of whom overcame initial hesitation to embrace the vaccine as the best way to protect themselves and their families,” she said. “We will continue working to vaccinate even more residents by meeting them where they are and bringing the vaccine directly into our communities.”
