Helicopter gelt delivery; how Rockland's youth vax numbers stack up: Rockland Angle

Nancy Cutler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News
·2 min read

Hi there Rockland! Nancy Cutler here with your Angle update.

Hope your Hanukkah (or Chanukah) was bright. I stopped by Sunday night's celebration at Palisades Credit Union Park, a.k.a. Boulders Stadium, in Pomona for a Hanukkah Festival that hit all the highlights – a rockin' band of holiday favorites, facepainting, a menorah lighting, and of course, a chance to grab some gelt. The event, a project of the Chabad Centers of Rockland County, drew lots of families.

Liam, 7, and Libby, 10, Kurtz of Wesley Hills show off Hanukkah-themed facepainting during a festival at Palisades Credit Union Park, known as Boulders Stadium, in Pomona on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021.
Liam, 7, and Libby, 10, Kurtz of Wesley Hills show off Hanukkah-themed facepainting during a festival at Palisades Credit Union Park, known as Boulders Stadium, in Pomona on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021.

The chocolate coin gathering came with a special twist. In what organizers said was a first in New York, a helicopter flew overhead and dropped 10,000 gold-foil pieces of gelt on a field as excited kids waited for the go-ahead to collect their cache.

A helicopter drops 10,000 pieces of gelt during a Hanukkah festival at Palisades Credit Union Park, known as Boulders Stadium, in Pomona on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. Children were instructed to wait and watch; after all the chocolate coins fell, they busily collected them and put them in small blue bags.
A helicopter drops 10,000 pieces of gelt during a Hanukkah festival at Palisades Credit Union Park, known as Boulders Stadium, in Pomona on Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. Children were instructed to wait and watch; after all the chocolate coins fell, they busily collected them and put them in small blue bags.

As the omicron variant adds concern and New York's COVID-19 cases continue to rise, we looked at vaccination rates in the state for children age 5-11. Rockland County, at this point, is among the lowest in terms of vaccination rates for children. As of Friday, Rockland's vaccination rate for those age 5-11 was 8%; the statewide rate is 18%. Just a reminder: the county played a key role in developing the only shot approved for that age group, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

The Rockland County Health Department has set up COVID vaccination clinics geared toward children ages 5-11:

  • 3-7 p.m., Monday, Dec. 13, at the Martin Luther King Jr. Multipurpose Center, Spring Valley. Third doses and boosters also available for those who qualify.

  • 3-7 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 15, at the Yeager Health Complex, Pomona.

  • 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 19, at Palisades Center mall, West Nyack. Third doses and boosters also available for those who qualify.

Make a reservation and get details at https://rocklandgov.com/departments/health/coronavirus-covid-19/.

Nancy Cutler writes about People & Policy. Click here for her latest stories. Follow her on Twitter at @nancyrockland.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rockland Angle newsletter for Monday December 6 2021