September 12, 2022

Congressman Kim - Coronavirus Update – September 2022

NJ COVID-19 Cases Update (as of 9/12/22 at 11:00 a.m.)

• +589 NEW COVID-19 cases statewide
  
  • 7-day average of NEW cases a day: 1,860
• +6 NEW fatalities / total (cumulative) fatalities in New Jersey: 31,523
• 77% of New Jersey residents of all eligible ages are fully vaccinated
• +28 NEW cases in Burlington County
  
  • The COVID-19 community risk level in Burlington County is currently medium. 
  • 76% of Burlington County residents of all eligible ages are vaccinated  
  • 22 Long Term Care facilities with ACTIVE outbreaks
  • Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that Burlington County residents who are at high risk for severe illness, talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to wear a mask and take other precautions. All should stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and get tested if you have symptoms.People may choose to mask at any time. People with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask.
• +30 NEW cases in Ocean County 
  
  • The COVID-19 community risk level in Ocean County is currently medium.
  • 56% of Ocean County residents of all eligible ages are vaccinated
  • 33 Long Term Care facilities with ACTIVE outbreaks
  • Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that Ocean County residents who are at high risk for severe illness, talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to wear a mask and take other precautions. All should stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and get tested if you have symptoms. People may choose to mask at any time. People with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask.

• On Friday, September 2nd, the federal government suspended the free mail-to-home testing program via COVID.gov. Free COVID testing is still available at a variety of pop-up/community sites and pharmacies in New Jersey. You can find a testing site here.
• On August 31st, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the Moderna and Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 vaccines for use as a single booster dose at least two months following a primary or booster vaccination. The “bivalent vaccines” are also known as updated boosters. The Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 18 years of age and older. The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent, is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 12 years of age and older. 
• The Ocean County Health Department is holding COVID Vaccine Clinics on September 16th from 11 AM to 3 PM at Lacey Farmers' Market United Methodist Church, September 22nd from 4 PM to 8 PM at the Ocean County Health Department, and on September 23rd from 1 PM to 4 PM at the Brick Library.
• Beginning September 14th, the Burlington County Health Department will conduct weekly COVID vaccination clinics 3 days a week at different sites. Click here for vaccine offerings and address information. The clinics will be at:
  - The Gibson House on Wednesdays from 9 AM to 3 PM
  - Bordentown Senior Center on Thursdays from 12 PM to 6 PM
  - Burlington County Health Department on Saturdays from 9 AM to 3 PM.
• On August 11th, the CDC streamlined their COVID-19 guidance. You can read the full update here.

CDC Mask Recommendations 

CDC mask recommendations are now based on their COVID-19 Community Level tool, which was released in February. The guidelines, which classify the country into low, medium, and high levels of COVID-19, provide individuals with an understanding of what precautions they should consider based on the level of disease in their community, their underlying risk, and their own risk tolerance. The metrics are based on hospitalizations and case rates.  You can read more about the CDC metrics, which are updated every Thursday, here.

As of today, Burlington and Ocean Counties are considered MEDIUM RISK, according to the CDC. Therefore, federal recommendation is that people may choose to mask at any time. People with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask.

Additional precautions may be needed for people at high risk for severe illness. If you are at high risk for severe illness, talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to wear a mask and take other precautions. Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and get tested if you have symptoms

0 counties in New Jersey are currently considered high risk. The recommendations don’t trigger any mask requirements in New Jersey.

N95 masks are available for free at pharmacies, retailers, and community health centers. You can find free masks here. 

General COVID-19 Vaccine Information

Anyone six-months years old or above who lives, works, or studies in New Jersey is eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. For more information about current eligibility, statewide vaccination site locations, and to preregister for vaccination, visit COVID-19.nj.gov/vaccine.

The New Jersey COVID-19 Vaccine Call Center can also be reached at: 1-855-568-0545

• Click here for upcoming vaccination clinics and testing sites in Burlington County. 
• Click here for Ocean County Health Department vaccine clinics and testing locations. 

• COVID-19 vaccines, including boosters, are recommended for everyone ages five years and older.
• Monovalent boosters are currently recommended for people ages 5 years and older.
  - Booster shots of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are available to people over 5 years old at least two months after their 2nd dose, or last booster.
  - Booster shots of the Moderna vaccine are available to people over 12 years old at least two months after their 2nd dose, or last booster.
• Novavax is not authorized for use as a booster dose at this time. If you received the Novavax vaccine for your primary series, those 12 years and older are recommended to get the Pfizer vaccine for their booster shot.
• If you received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for your primary series, those 18 years and older are recommended to get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for their booster shot.
• The updated Pfizer or Moderna bivalent booster is recommended for people 12 years of age or older. At this time, people 12 to 17 years old can only receive the updated bivalent Pfizer booster.
  - This includes people who have received all primary series doses and people who have previously received one or more original (monovalent) boosters.

Information on Mixing COVID-19 Vaccine Products:

Primary series - CDC does not recommend mixing products for your primary series doses. If you received Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Novavax for the first dose of your primary series, you should get the same product for all following primary series doses.

Boosters - 

• People ages 18 years and older may get a different product for a booster than they got for their primary series, as long as it is Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.
• Teens ages 12-17 years may get a different product for a booster than they got for their primary series, as long as it is Pfizer-BioNTech.
• Children ages 5 through 11 years who got a Pfizer-BioNTech primary series must also get Pfizer-BioNTech for a booster.
• People ages 12 years and older may only get the updated (bivalent) mRNA (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) booster. They can no longer get an original (monovalent) mRNA booster.

The CDC considers people to be up to date if:

• They have completed their primary series and the most recent booster recommended for them.

On Tuesday, March 29th, the CDC recommended a second booster shot of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for immunocompromised individuals over age 12 and adults 50 and older at least four months after their first booster.

People ages 18 through 49 years who got a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for both their primary dose and booster can choose to get a 2nd booster of either Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at least 4 months after their 1st booster. The 2nd booster is not required to be considered up to date for people ages 18 through 49 years who got a Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for both their primary dose and 1st booster.

COVID-19 Testing 

You can find a testing location near you here, order a free saliva test shipped directly to your door here, or find out more information about public testing sites, including pop-up sites here.

The NJ Department of Health and Vault Medical Services are continuing to offer free, at-home COVID-19 saliva test kits. These are available to all, even if you are symptom-free. For more information on ordering and using these free tests, click here. To order a free test kit, visit learn.vaulthealth.com/nj.

For those who are blind or have low-vision, more accessible testing options can be ordered at https://special.usps.com/testkits/accessible or by calling 1-800-232-0233. More information on these tests can be found here.

You can also purchase up to eight at-home, over-the-counter COVID-19 tests a month upfront and then submit a claim for reimbursement to your insurance company. If you purchase an over-the-counter COVID-19 test from a pharmacy, store, or online retailer and are charged for your test, keep your receipt and submit a claim to your insurance company for reimbursement. You can read more about this policy here. People with Medicare can get up to eight tests per month from participating pharmacies and health care providers. Here is a list of the pharmacies participating in Medicare’s over-the-counter tests initiative.

Additional Resources

You can find additional information and resources regarding transportation, returning to work, rental assistance, funeral reimbursement, and healthcare subsidies by clicking here. 

Where Can I Get More Information and Updates From Congressman Kim?

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If you need help from our office with a Federal Agency, you can get in contact with us by clicking here. 

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Our office receives regular inquiries about where to find essential resources. To help constituents, we’ve developed the following lists of resources in New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District and beyond. This list includes organizations with a wide variety of purposes. For more information, please click here.

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As always, please don’t hesitate to be in touch if you’re in need of assistance.

Sincerely, 

Andy Kim
Member of Congress