‘Unbalanced, Unfair’: Essex Official Defends COVID Vaccine Program

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — “Unbalanced and unfair.” This was the reaction from Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. after reading a scathing, 17-page report from the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller.

On Tuesday, the comptroller’s office released a report that accuses the county of having “lax oversight of spending” and racking up multiple violations of federal, state and local procurement rules in connection with its $40 million vaccination program. Read it online here.

“The government’s obligation to protect taxpayer funds doesn’t go away during an emergency,” acting state comptroller Kevin Walsh said. See Related: Essex County COVID Program Plagued With Financial Waste, Report Says

Reached for comment, DiVincenzo hit back, saying the comptroller’s analysis and Walsh’s comment “does not accurately depict Essex County’s response to the pandemic.”

His full statement to Patch follows below:

“The 17-page report criticizing Essex County’s COVID-19 vaccination program that was issued by Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh is unbalanced, unfair and does not accurately depict Essex County’s response to the pandemic. His findings amount to nothing more than a “do as I say, not as I do gotcha” report pointing out issues with just a very small fraction of the funds spent by the County fighting COVID.

“Let’s remember that when COVID was identified in March 2020, it was a deadly, unknown, invisible enemy that caused widespread panic and anxiety. Facts changed on a daily, if not hourly, basis. During these uncertain times, I believe the swift and decisive actions we made helped calm the fears of residents and saved countless numbers of lives.

“The comptroller’s document is riddled with inaccuracies and omits topics that are relevant to explain the scope of the vaccine operation. It clearly does not include the entire testing operation that was held during the vaccination program, therefore basically eliminating over 400,000 individuals who were serviced.

“Essex County was among the first agencies in New Jersey to open testing centers. And by the fall of 2020, when news that vaccines were being developed, we had five vaccination sites set up and ready to go even before the doses were available. It was essential that Essex be prepared because we were at the epicenter of the pandemic. About 10 percent of the total COVID-cases reported in New Jersey (through May 11, 2023) were from Essex County. (260,601 Essex County cases; 2,569,684 Statewide cases)

“Residents knew they could rely on Essex County for testing and vaccinations. We operated six, sometimes seven, days a week for 12 hours each day along with a mobile vaccination program that visited every corner of the county and hosted sometimes two sites a day. In the end, we administered about one-third of all vaccinations given in the entire County and became the primary COVID-19 vaccine provider for children because many pediatric health care providers were either not willing to or not able to provide these vaccines.

“The comptroller also does not take into account the extraordinary conditions created by the pandemic. Supply chain issues severely impacted the availability of goods and resulted in EVERY level of government and health care agency from around the world competing against each other for medical supplies such as glovers, gowns and cleaners, for example. Availability was scarce and, at times when we purchased certain goods, they in fact had been diverted to another buyer who agreed to pay a higher price. I don’t want to diminish its importance, but that’s not covered by public bidding laws.

“I’m not saying that we were perfect. But when any wrongdoing was identified, we acted swiftly. We did have a few people working at our vaccination sites who improperly took advantage of the situation. However, the report does not give us enough credit to us for our response. When we discovered “no-show” employees, those people were fired immediately and, when possible, funds were repaid. And the vendor that the report identified as having been given a duplicate payment has commenced repayment plan to the County.

“In many instances we were working in unchartered waters. There was no playbook or any established guidelines on how to respond to the largest public health emergency we will ever experience. We were undertaking an operation – and all of its unexpected moving parts – that we never had before. We were not operating in a controlled vacuum as the Comptroller would make you think. Decisions had to be made quickly, and we made them.

“During those challenging times, it would have been nice to receive support from an outside source. The Comptroller’s Office, for instance, has a procurement division which is supposed to provide guidance to contracted units to ensure that the contracting process complies with applicable law. Further, the statue governing the State Comptroller states it “shall” provide technical assistance and training to local governments to strengthen internal controls and prevent the misuse of public funds. It would have been helpful to have them stand shoulder to shoulder with us back then rather than have them unfairly criticize our performance years later.

“I applaud the hard work of all the men and women who assisted us during the pandemic, including numerous senior county employees who regularly worked at our centers without extra pay. While many people in government stayed home on the sidelines, the determination and willingness of our team to fight on the front lines of the pandemic helped Essex County be recognized on a national level as having one of the most responsive, efficient and well-run vaccination programs. I am proud of how we helped save the lives of our residents and how we continue Putting Essex County First.”

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