On Monday April 19, eligibility for vaccination will expand to age 16 and older. The Health Department will continue to offer appointments for Moderna Covid-19 Vaccine for Ocean County Residents 18 and over through our website Covid-19 tab at www.lbihealth.com. Moderna is currently only approved for 18 and older. 

This week we have been seeing incidence of covid-19 infections plateau and pointing to a trend lower. However, the average number of new Covid -19 infections remains at an unacceptable level of 200 per day in Ocean County. With the expansion in eligibility, we want to continue reaching individuals in more of the middle and younger age ranges. Covid-19 vaccinations continue to offer the best opportunity to reducing the burden of Covid-19 in our community. When you get vaccinated, you are protecting yourself, family, friends and your community.

The country that is leading in percentage of their population vaccinated is Israel, fully immunizing over 50% of their population and by comparison New Jersey is currently at 27%. Israel has been experiencing a dramatic drop in new & severe infections since a mid-January peak of Covid cases. Their total population number is a little more than New Jersey at approximately 9 million. The January peak of new infections in Israel was approximately 10,000 per day and as of this week the average daily covid case rate is approximately 200. To compare New Jersey’s daily peak on January 13th of 6,922 confirmed cases and as April 11th reported 2,897 of newly confirmed covid cases. 

Local resources: 

Long Beach Island Residents that are homebound or with lack of internet access or computer literacy who need assistance with navigating scheduling an appointment please call (609) 492-1212.

Ocean County Seniors with lack of internet access or computer literacy who need assistance with navigating scheduling an appointment please call Senior Services at (732) 929-2091

New Jersey Resources:

Call (856)-249-7007, if you are a senior 75+ needing assistance with the following: 

− Rescheduling of dedicated appointments 

− Registration and addition of 75+ to the NJ VSS wait-list 

− Scheduling at other NJ VSS sites.

The State’s toll-free vaccination hotline (1-855-568-0545) is available to register individuals in the NJ Vaccine Scheduling System, answer questions about the vaccine, provide contact information for sites, and check registration status.