Passaic County's COVID Booster Rates Fall Below NJ Average

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday he wasn't happy with the rate of New Jerseyans who have received COVID-19 booster shots. In Passaic County, the percentage is even lower.

New Jersey has the nation's ninth-highest percentage of people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 — those who completed their primary vaccine cycle of two shots from Pfizer or Moderna, or one Johnson & Johnson dose.

But the Garden State ranked 27th in the nation in terms of its percentage of fully vaccinated people who received a booster shot as of Jan. 10, according to a Becker's Hospital Review analysis.

As of Friday, 41.9 percent of fully vaccinated New Jerseyans have received a COVID-19 booster, according to New Jersey Department of Health data. Gov. Phil Murphy would like to see a higher figure, he said at a Wednesday news conference.

"The booster rates are unacceptable," Murphy said. "They’re too low."

But Passaic County's rate falls even lower than New Jersey's. Thirty-three percent of the area's fully vaccinated population have received a booster dose as of Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Not every fully vaccinated person is eligible for a booster dose. People 5 and older are eligible to begin COVID-19 vaccinations. But the age minimums for a booster shot are 18 for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines and 12 for Pfizer. Then they must wait several months after completing their primary vaccination series. See who can get a booster shot.

The data showing the rate of people eligible for a booster shot, who have received one, isn't publicly available. But according to the CDC, 35.9 percent of fully vaccinated Passaic County adults have received a booster.

A booster dose significantly reduces a person's odds of hospitalization from the omicron variant, according to CDC research released Friday.

One of the three studies analyzed 259 hospitals and 383 emergency departments from late August through early January. The research found that a third dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine reduced the odds of a hospital or emergency-room visit by 94 percent during the delta wave and 82 percent during the omicron wave.

From Dec. 6 to Jan. 2, New Jerseyans who have received the booster accounted for the following:

"The rates of infection and hospitalization for those with boosters is more than three times lower than for those who have only a primary vaccination," Murphy said.

See more local resources:

• Here's where to find a COVID-19 booster shot — or first or second vaccination — around Wayne.

• Need to get tested for COVID-19? See Wayne Patch's guide on what to know about local testing centers.

Although most people with COVID-19 get better within weeks of the illness, some experience conditions known as long COVID or long-haul COVID, according to the CDC. Learn more about long COVID at the CDC's post-COVID conditions page.

Thanks for reading. Have a news tip? Email josh.bakan@patch.com. Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter and follow the Wayne Patch Facebook Page.

This article originally appeared on the Wayne Patch