An accounting error has resulted in New Jersey’s vaccination rates being undercounted.
According to a note on the state’s dashboard, a coding error caused approximately 200,000 Pfizer (adult formulation) doses not being classified as Pfizer doses. But the doses were being included in the count of total vaccine doses administered in New Jersey.
The state said the change will contribute to statewide increases in the number of people with at least one dose, the number of fully vaccinated people, and the number of Pfizer additional/booster/3rd doses administered.
Vaccine Numbers Rise
The change increased by about 3% the numbers of those fully vaccinated and who has received their booster shot, according to a North-JerseyNews.com analysis. With just under 8.5 million eligible in New Jersey to be vaccinated, 80% are now fully vaccinated as of Feb. 28. And 54% of the 5.7 million of those eligible have now received their booster.
The number of COVID-19 vaccines administered in New Jersey totaled 13,712,724 in-state, plus an additional 561,732 administered out-of-state for a grand total of 14,274,456 as of Feb. 28.
Of those who have received the vaccine, 6,525,961 received their second dose or the one jab Johnson & Johnson dose in state and another 224,281 out of state, bringing those fully vaccinated to 6,750,242. State officials reported boosters and third shots of 1,688,685 for Pfizer and 1,319,431 for Moderna. A total of 64,278 New Jerseyans have received their Johnson & Johnson booster shot. Overall, 3,072,394 have received a booster or third shot.
In North Jersey, Bergen County has 714,608 residents fully vaccinated, Essex 583,052, Hudson 521,007, Morris 382,878, Passaic 354,199, Sussex 91,808, and Warren 59,862.
Daily Data
The cumulative number of confirmed coronavirus cases in New Jersey as of Feb. 28 was 1,872,635 with 685 total new PCR cases. There were 109 probable cases, bringing the cumulative total of antigen tests to 294,880. The total number of individual cases for the state is 2,164,368.
As for those that have passed, the state reported 13 confirmed deaths, bringing that total to 29,947. The state listed probable deaths at 2,968, bringing the overall total to 32,947. State officials noted 11 deaths occurred in the last 24 hours of reporting that have not yet been lab confirmed.
For North Jersey counties on Feb. 28, Bergen had a total of 60 new confirmed cases and 12 new probable cases, Essex 65 new cases and 12 new probable case, Hudson 107 new cases and two new probable cases, Morris 34 new confirmed cases and 13 new probable cases, Passaic 33 new cases and nine new probable cases, Sussex 15 new cases and two new probable cases, and Warren 10 new cases and no new probable cases.
Of the total confirmed deaths in North Jersey, Essex County has the most with 3,255, followed by Bergen at 3,082, Hudson with 2,474, Passaic at 2,114, Morris at 1,216, Sussex at 376, and Warren County at 308.
In regards to probable deaths reported Feb. 28, Bergen has 321, Essex has 311, Morris has 296, Hudson has 221, Passaic has 199, Sussex has 88 and Warren has 27.
State Testing
As for the rate of transmission reported Feb. 28, it increased to 0.75 from 0.71 the day before. The daily rate of infections from those tested Feb. 22 was 2.2%, the lowest since mid-July 2021; by region, the rate was 2.0% in the North, 2.3% in the Central region and 2.7% in the South.
The state’s dashboard had a count of 796 patients hospitalized as all but two of the 71 hospitals in the Garden State filed reports Feb. 28—the first time under 800 since Nov. 20, 2021. By region, there were 270 in the North, 264 in the Central and 262 in the South. Of those hospitalized, 121 are in intensive care units and 86 on ventilators. A total of 111 patients were discharged in the last 24 hour reporting period.
Officials have continually cited transmission rate, hospitalizations, intensive care units, ventilators and positivity rate as health data they rely on to track how the coronavirus is being contained in New Jersey, guiding them in determining when restrictions have to be tightened or lifted.
Long-term Care Facilities
Health officials noted 425 long-term care facilities are currently reporting at least one case of COVID-19, accounting for a total of 23,333 of the cases, broken down between 10,866 residents and 12,467 staff.
Cumulatively, 2,365 long-term care facilities have reported an outbreak infecting 46,887 residents and 37,942 staff, for a total of 84,829.
The state’s official death total will now be reported as those that are lab confirmed, sits at 9,278 on Feb. 28. The facilities are reporting to the state 8,495 residents deaths and 149 staff deaths.
School Outbreaks
According to the state dashboard with just 58.1% of all New Jersey schools reporting due to Winter break, new student cases totaled 1,505 and new staff cases 389 in the last week as of Feb. 20. Cumulatively, 128,175 cases have been reported— 100,375 students and 27,800 staffers.
In regards to outbreaks related to in-school transmissions as of Feb. 22, the state has tracked 507 school outbreaks and 3,450 cases linked to those outbreaks since the 2021/2022 school year starting Aug. 7, up four outbreaks and 17 cases from the week previous.
Outbreaks are defined as three or more laboratory confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff with onsets within a 14 day period, linked within the school setting, do not share a household, and were not identified as close contacts of each other in another setting during standard case investigation or contact tracing.
For North Jersey in the new report, Bergen County has 58 confirmed outbreaks with 331 cases, Morris County has 40 confirmed outbreaks with 246 cases, Essex County has 33 confirmed outbreaks with 232 cases, Passaic County has 22 confirmed outbreaks with 188 cases, Sussex has 34 confirmed outbreaks with 177 cases, Hudson County has 19 confirmed outbreaks with 92 cases and Warren County has two confirmed outbreaks with 15 cases.
