Hoboken COVID Hospitalizations Climb To 40

HOBOKEN, NJ — The city of Hoboken said Monday that Hoboken University Medical Center currently has 40 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Of those patients, 11 are Hoboken residents, seven vaccinated and four unvaccinated (see more on that below). The city does not have the vaccination information on the others.

The number of fatalities remains 57. The city reported last week that a resident in his 60s had died of COVID, the first Hoboken resident to die of the virus since the summer.

The city said that the Hoboken Health Department confirmed 571 COVID-19 new cases from Jan. 1 through Jan. 7 down slightly from the past two weeks. However, factors such as testing availability can come into play.

When asked about the vaccinated patients in the hospital, a spokesperson for Mayor Ravi Bhalla said Tuesday:

"Hoboken has a high vaccination rate, and due to this prevalence, it's more likely we see that some of our hospitalized residents are vaccinated. Medical experts have said that it is becoming more common for vaccinated people to get hospitalized, especially those who have not received a booster dose when they become eligible, as we know the effectiveness of the vaccine wanes over time."

The spokesperson added, "It is also clear that locally and nationwide, although the number of vaccinated hospitalizations are rising, the rate at which unvaccinated people are getting hospitalized, and eventually having more severe illness, is substantially higher than those who are vaccinated."

Also, the omicron variant is spreading rapidly enough that more people in New Jersey hospitals testing positive for COVID were admitted for other issues. There are more than 2,000 people in New Jersey hospitals now who were admitted for COVID, a number not seen in over a year, but another 4,000 tested positive for the virus who were admitted for other reasons. Of those admitted for COVID, more than 400 need breathing help with a ventilator.

In Hoboken, the schools went remote last week for three days to allow time for students to test for COVID, but positive results were still received even after schools reopened in person Thursday. As a result, some students with exposures remained remote this week, and other students were given the option of remote or on-site education.

See below for links to testing and vaccination centers in Hoboken.

Hoboken Vaccination Rate Update

Below is the vaccination rate for Hoboken as of Monday:

All ages: 82 percent (first dose)

12 and over: 95 percent (first dose)

18 and over: 91 percent (first dose)

30 and over: 99 percent (first dose)

65 and over: nearly 100 percent (first dose)

All ages: 71 percent (second dose)

12 and over: 82 percent (second dose)

18 and over: 78 percent (second dose)

30 and over: 88 percent (second dose)

65 and over: 99 percent (second dose)

Omicron And Other Statistics

Cases of COVID, particularly the easily transmissible omicron variant, have proliferated around the state.

However, 85.5 percent of the cases confirmed and sequenced in New Jersey in the last four weeks are the Delta variant that has been afflicting people since early summer. Omicron account for 13.9 percent (not all positive tests statewide are sequenced to determine variant).

As of Friday, the state's 71 hospitals reported 5,621 people hospitalized who tested positive for COVID, 419 getting breathing help from ventilators, a number not seen in a year. By Monday, more than 6,000 people were hospitalized with COVID, with more than 2,000 of those admitted for COVID as the main reason.

Hoboken has added several testing sites. Appointments to be vaccinated or get a test via the city can be booked online at www.hobokennj.gov/vaccine or at www.hobokennj.gov/testing

Hudson County also has a vaccination center here.

New Jersey health officials have launched a website where people can search for COVID-19 testing facilities near them or across the state. Users are advised to double check the accuracy of the hours, and eligibility, by calling the site before heading over. Go to the site here.

In America, more than, 835,000 people have died of COVID since the start of the pandemic. The daily death rate is highest right now in these states: Michigan, Tennessee, Arizona, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania.

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