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Aleyna Kilic Jersey City
Rania Dadlani

McNair Junior Organizes Local Protest on Oct. 3 Against Texas Abortion Law

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Aleyna Kilic, a junior at Jersey City’s McNair Academic High School, will be leading a rally Sunday, Oct. 3 at city hall to protest the recent passage of the Texas Heartbeat Act, which went into effect Sept. 1. Inspired by the Women’s March, which is sponsoring rallies nationwide on Saturday, Oct. 2, the Jersey City event will take place one day before the Supreme Court reconvenes October 4.

“We must demonstrate to the Supreme Court that we will fight back and will continue to protest, rally, and march throughout all fifty states in order to protect our choice,” Kilic said, referring to Roe v. Wade. “As long as the message gets across to one person, that’s one life that you’ll change forever.”

Senate Bill 8 (SB8), often known as the “heartbeat bill,” is one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the United States. Signed into law on May 19, 2021, the bill outlaws abortion in Texas after six weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape, sexual abuse, incest, or fetal anomaly diagnosis. The law’s criminal penalties apply to anybody who performs or induces a prohibited abortion, anyone who “knowingly” “aides or abets” the performance or inducement of a prohibited abortion, and even anyone who “intends” to conduct or help in the performance or inducement of a prohibited abortion. Furthermore, rather than relying on the executive branch of the state to enforce the law, as is the norm in Texas and elsewhere, the state has deputized ordinary citizens to serve as bounty hunters authorized to recover at least $10,000 per claim.

The rally will feature a variety of speakers, including McNair students Zoe Van Gelder, Tara Pathak, Madison O’Neill, Al Macaraeg, and Gwendolyn Chung and Jersey City Municipal Council President Joyce Watterman.

Councilman-at-large Daniel Rivera helped Kilic plan the protest. “For an event to be spearheaded by young women in high school, it is important to engage into that mindset as an advocate or to show support and solidarity.”

Vaccination
Jersey City Times Staff

Hudson County Announces Vaccine Distribution Center Will Begin Distributing Pfizer Booster Shots  

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Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise has announced that anyone eligible to receive a booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine will be able to do so at the Hudson County Vaccine Distribution Center starting Monday, free of charge with no appointment necessary.

“We are fully prepared to begin administering booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine at the Hudson County Vaccine Distribution Center and we encourage anyone who is eligible to get their vaccine today and do their part to keep our communities safe,” said County Executive Tom DeGise. “Just as we have been since our vaccine program began late last year, our team is working cooperatively with municipal health officers, state and federal government and all other stakeholders to ensure an efficient, equitable distribution of vaccines.”

The CDC announced new guidance with regard to booster shots, recommending that anyone who got their first two Pfizer vaccines, and meets the specified criteria, get a booster dose. The CDC recommends booster doses for anyone 65 and over, and people 50-64 with underlying medical conditions. Those 18-49 with underlying medical conditions and anyone who is at increased risk for transmission, including healthcare workers, may also receive a booster dose.

This guidance does not apply to those who received Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines and additional information will be released regarding those varieties when it becomes available.

Vaccines are available for free at the Hudson County Vaccine Distribution Center in Kearny with no appointment necessary. More information about the County Distribution Center’s hours is available at their website.

In addition to booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine, Hudson County is also offering third doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine to immunocompromised people as per guidance from the CDC, and encourages anyone who is eligible to get their third dose at the County Vaccine Distribution Center. The county’s Vaccine Task Force is preparing to offer third doses to the general public at the direction of the State of New Jersey once the additional doses receive FDA approval.

The Hudson County Vaccine Distribution Center is located at the USS Juneau Center at 110 Hackensack in Kearny.

New Jersey Day Care Center
Sophie Nieto-Munoz

Vaccine Requirement and Mask Mandate Issued for N.J. Child Care Centers

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Republished courtesy of  New Jersey Monitor

New Jersey’s child care workers must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1 or face regular testing, and all employees, visitors, and children older than 2 must wear face masks in day care centers at all times, Gov. Phil Murphy announced during a press briefing Monday.

The mandates come as the Delta variant fuels a rise of COVID-19 cases in the Garden State and across the country. Officials reported 1,392 confirmed cases in New Jersey Monday, more than double the case count from two months ago.

“We know there are already many child care providers who are doing their utmost to protect the children in their care, their employees, and their communities, and we thank them. This order ensures that everyone is abiding by the same strong standards,” said Murphy, a Democrat up for re-election in November.

The mandates didn’t come as a surprise. Murphy has already required all health care workers, teachers, and state employees to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing. Mask mandates are also in place in schools across the state.

The new testing and masking rules go into effect Friday.

Murphy admitted it could be difficult to convince a 2-year-old to keep their mask on, and noted day cares would need to be regulated different than public schools. In those schools, each district can decide how to enforce mask wearing and how harsh penalties for noncompliance should be.

“We’re going to rely on folks doing the right thing. They’re regulated so we have an opportunity to make sure they’re regulated, and that includes from a health perspective,” he said.

Murphy’s previous vaccinate-or-get-tested mandate applied to child care centers associated with school boards. The newest one affects all day cares.

The child care industry has faced critical staffing problems for years that worsened during the pandemic. Child care services are down 126,700 workers nationally, more than a 10% drop from pre-pandemic levels, the Washington Post reported.

More than 10,000 workers have left the industry since June, largely to seek higher paying jobs, becoming bank tellers, teachers, nannyies, and more.

According to the New Jersey Department of Labor, the chid care workforce has been cut by more than a quarter since 2019. Fewer than 30,000 people are employed in the industry, down from more than 40,000 two years ago.

Caregiving jobs are taken on largely by women, who research shows have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. More than 2 million women have left the workforce since March 2020, in part due to schools shuttering. More than 7 million adults haven’t returned to work, citing child care as the main reason, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

At Monday’s press conference, Murphy also announced the state is waiting on final guidance on booster shots for certain at-risk groups who received the Pfizer jab.

 

Rendering of New St. Lucy's Homeless Shelter in Jersey City
Jersey City Times Staff

City Breaks Ground on New Downtown Homeless Shelter

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By early 2023, Jersey City’s homeless will have a new place to shelter and obtain help Downtown.

Today, Mayor Fulop was joined by Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark, dignitaries and the site’s developers to officially begin construction on the brand new, 60,000 square foot homeless services facility located along Grove Street, between 15th and 16th Streets. 

“With this groundbreaking, we’re building a safe space that will not only provide food and shelter for those in need, but we’re also utilizing St. Lucy’s established success as the foundation to build a brighter, more prosperous future for our neediest residents and families for generations to come,” said the mayor. “As we work collectively to eradicate homelessness, the City is committing over $2 million in grant funding to help expand beyond traditional shelter services to also include more permanent housing options and transitional support as well as everyday necessities that better address the health and well-being of our most vulnerable residents.”

The newly expanded St. Lucy’s campus will feature a total of 165 beds for individuals who are homeless, 14 units of transitional housing for individuals with HIV, five permanent supportive housing units specifically for families, and 15 permanent affordable housing studio apartments. The housing and public services site also provides its temporary and permanent residents with access to comprehensive case management services offered on-site, with the goal being to help the individual find permanent housing, find employment, and address any other needs that they may have, such as physical health, mental health, or substance use.

“This project is a tangible example of how the Archdiocese of Newark is heeding the call of Jesus, who asked his followers to help the vulnerable,” said Cardinal Tobin. “Projects like this are desperately needed to bring the Gospel to life, which is why we are thankful to Mayor Fulop for his support and the ongoing collaboration between the development team and Catholic Charities. May their partnership continue to prosper as they begin the construction process.” WWW.JERSEYCITYNJ.GOV 

St. Lucy's Groundbreaking Jersey City

St. Lucy’s Groundbreaking

Catholic Charities will have staff offices on the second floor of the new shelter where clients can be seen. The second floor will also include a drop-in area for nonresidents in need who can utilize St. Lucy’s services for showers, meals, and the new laundry facilities. 

The St. Lucy’s Public Benefit Project and related St. Lucy’s Tower development effort has been underway since 2015 and includes a series of now complete property exchanges, zoning approvals, and overall planning consent. The new $16 million facility is fully funded through Claremont Companies and at no cost to Jersey City taxpayers, according to the mayor’s spokesperson. 

“As one of the largest and longest-standing homeless shelters in the state, St. Lucy’s has always played a pivotal role in helping so many within our community,” said John Westervelt, Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Charities. “We couldn’t be more excited to mark the commencement of construction activity on such a transformational project. Our team really is looking forward to this state-of-the-art facility that will enable us to provide more services to our vulnerable neighbors.” 

 

Menstrual Products
Andrea Crowley-Hughes

Fighting “Period Poverty,” Program to Provide Students with Menstrual Products

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Jersey City’s President Barack Obama Community School (P.S. 34) will be one of two schools in the state to provide free menstrual products in a pilot program launched by The Flow Initiative and the National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County.

The organizations will work with Hospeco, a leading manufacturer of cleaning and protection products, to provide a vending machine that dispenses free sanitary napkins at P.S. 34.

Fittingly on Women’s Equality Day, Aug 26, the Jersey City Board of Education passed a resolution highlighting the program and showing appreciation for the Flow Initiative, a Hudson County grassroots nonprofit that works toward eradicating “period poverty,” establishing “menstrual equality” and elevating gender equality.

Flow Initiative founder and executive director Eiko La Boria spoke at the meeting, thanking Jersey City Board of Education Trustee Gina Verdibello, who read the resolution and has supported the initiative for the past two years.

“For me this is a milestone because when Cynthia ​​Vazquez, my partner in this initiative, and I began this journey, assuring that students had access to period products was one of the most important things.”

The initiative addresses the needs of all students who suffer from period poverty, or a lack of access to period products, La Boria said. (The term is also used in situations where sanitary napkins and tampons are available but unaffordable for certain populations.) Since they will be provided with free products, they will not have to miss school, leave school, or feel embarrassed because they don’t have these necessities. The organization also fights to establish menstrual “equity” (which is essentially the eradication of period poverty). One example of menstrual inequity, according to the organization’s website, is the lack of government-furnished sanitary napkins and tampons in public school bathrooms.

Not all campaigns that fight period poverty mention the needs of non-binary individuals and of trans boys and men. But the Flow Initiative does, and according to Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, author of Periods Gone Public: Taking a Stand for Menstrual Equity, that’s key.

“Everyone and anyone who menstruates needs to be included in discussions and decisions about their own health,” she writes. “This includes creating safe environments in bathrooms (the sound of a pad or tampon wrapper opening could put the safety of trans men in danger), providing menstrual products in all bathrooms — men’s, women’s, and gender-neutral —ensuring health insurance companies appropriately cover trans men, and marketing menstrual products to all genders.”

The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN, would agree. Its research shows transgender and gender nonconforming students face more hostile school climates compared to other students.

From their survey of 100 girls in Jersey City, the Flow Initiative found that 28% missed school because they did not have access to sanitary napkins, 90% have needed a menstrual product while in school, 76% have had a menstrual accident while in school, and 86% believe that a lack of access to menstrual products affects one’s ability to focus and learn.

The Flow Initiative and National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County are working on language for a state bill, S692/A3388, which would provide free sanitary napkins to certain public schools paid for by Trenton.

Data from the two schools on the implications free sanitary napkins will have on students will be used in the organization’s efforts to support the bill.

The Flow Initiative’s goals also include developing “a period product access plan for all students by ensuring schools have period product dispensaries and  open emergency period product distribution centers throughout the city,” according to their website.

“We have to take feedback and all that we learned from these two months back to the state and continue lobbying for this bill to be passed,” LaBoria said.

 

Photo by Natracare on Unsplash

Vaccination
Nikita Biryukov

New Jersey Could Start Administering Vaccine Boosters in September

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Republished courtesy of  New Jersey Monitor

New Jersey could begin administering booster shots of the two-dose Pfizer and Modern COVID-19 vaccines on Sept. 20, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday.

The booster push will see New Jersey re-open its vaccine megasites, which closed in June and July as health officials turned more of their attention to localized vaccination efforts.

How many individuals are eligible for the third shot ultimately depends on whether the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention decide whether boosters should be administered six or eight months after a patient receives their second dose of the vaccine.

“If it’s six months, on September 20 immediately 2.4 million people in this state will become eligible for a booster shot,” Murphy said at Monday’s virus briefing.

Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said the initial wave of booster shots should take about four months to administer.

Boosters, long viewed as a liability in the fight to convince vaccine holdouts to become immunized, have increasingly become a focal point for health officials.

Murphy’s announcement comes amid a Delta-variant-fueled resurgence of COVID-19 in the Garden State. For almost all of August, New Jersey reported more than 1,000 cases daily, a stark shift from the roughly 200 daily cases reported for much of July.

It isn’t immediately clear which of the megasites will reopen, but the governor predicted New Jersey would not face the supply issues that plagued the state in the winter and early spring.

“To be clear, we are confident we have both the supply and the distribution capacity to serve everyone,” he said.

Photo by Gustavo Fring from Pexels

Mayor Steven Fulop
Jersey City Times Staff

Mayor Fulop Announces High School Competition to Spur Teen Vaccinations

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The Jersey City public high school to obtain the highest vaccination rate will get a free trip to Summer Jam, according to an announcement by Mayor Fulop this morning. Not to be left out, parents who bring their teens in will get a $50 gift certificate to Shoprite.

Fulop announced the collaboration with Jersey City Public Schools and the radio station Hot 97 during an appearance on the Hot 97 morning show with Ebro. Fulop then repeated the announcement in a Facebook Live post.

“We’re really focused on making sure that we can increase the vaccination rate for eligible teenagers so that we have a safe opening environment for schools when the they go back in early September. The city is pushing 80% for the first shot whereas the teenage vaccination rate is less than 50%.”

For the mayor, a slice of pizza or a couple of dollars is insufficient. “We’ve got to meet the kids where they’re at.”

“The goal is to create positive peer pressure. The mayor said he wanted to create “robust competition.”

Man wearing face mask
Jersey City Times Staff

CDC Recommends Masks in Indoor Public Settings in Hudson County

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According to the latest data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), fully vaccinated residents of Hudson County should be wearing masks in “public indoor settings.”

This recommendation follows new data indicating that Hudson County is now experiencing a “substantial level of community transmission.”

The CDC points out, however, that the risk of serious illness for fully vaccinated adults is very low. “Infections in fully vaccinated people (breakthrough infections) happen in only a small proportion of people who are fully vaccinated, even with the Delta variant. Moreover, when these infections occur among vaccinated people, they tend to be mild. However, preliminary evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people who do become infected with the Delta variant can be infectious and can spread the virus to others.”

Otherwise, the CDC advises that the fully vaccinated can:

  • Participate in many of the activities that they did before the pandemic; for some of these activities, they may choose to wear a mask.
  • Resume domestic travel and refrain from testing before or after travel and from self-quarantine after travel.
  • Refrain from testing before leaving the United States for international travel (unless required by the destination) and refrain from self-quarantine after arriving back in the United States.
  • Refrain from routine screening testing if feasible.

However, in addition to masking in indoor public settings, fully vaccinated people should:

  • Get tested if experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
  • Get tested 3-5 days following a known exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 and wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days after exposure or until a negative test result.
  • Isolate if they have tested positive for COVID-19 in the prior 10 days or are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
  • Follow any applicable federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations.

Finally, fully vaccinated people might choose to mask regardless of the level of transmission, particularly if they or someone in their household is immunocompromised or at increased risk for severe disease, or if someone in their household is unvaccinated. People who are at increased risk for severe disease include older adults and those who have certain medical conditions, such as diabetes, overweight or obesity, and heart conditions.

 

Photo by Mayan Sachan on Unsplash

Jersey City Times Staff

Governor Lifts Most Mask and Social Distancing Mandates

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Friday is the day that many New Jersey residents have been waiting for, when social distancing and the wearing of masks will no longer be required in most indoor settings.

“I knew that if we all did our parts, we could make it work” said Governor Phil Murphy in announcing his executive order implementing the new rules. It was, he said, “because of the tremendous progress we’ve made over the past several weeks in particular.”

In addition to lifting the mask mandate, Murphy’s executive order lifts the requirement for maintaining six feet of social distancing in all indoor and outdoor settings and includes businesses such as restaurants, retail spaces, personal care businesses, gyms, and recreational and entertainment businesses. It also lifts the six foot distancing requirement for religious services, political activities, weddings, funerals, memorial services, and performances. Every business can continue to require social distancing, should it choose to.

Also on May 28, dance floors in bars and restaurants will be allowed to open and the requirement that patrons remain seated while ordering or eating and drinking will be lifted.

Businesses and other entities that wish to, can continue to require that customers wear masks. “We ask that you be respectful in adhering to these requirements where they do apply,” the governor added.

Masks will still be required in healthcare settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, public transportation, state offices, and worksites that are closed to the public. The executive order does not apply to child care facilities, summer camps and schools.

On June 4, the state will lift all indoor gathering limits. This includes the general 50 person gathering limit as well as the 250 person gathering limit that applies to political activities, wedding ceremonies and receptions, funerals, memorial services, performances, catered events and commercial gatherings. The thirty percent limit on large indoor venues with a fixed seating capacity of a thousand or greater will also be lifted.

Murphy defended his go-slow approach. “We did not act in a knee jerk fashion. I do not for one minute regret are taking these extra two weeks to ensure the dramatic decreases we have begun seeing… I do not regret listening to a host of medical and scientific experts, including Dr. Tony Fauci, who spoke of a need to be more cautious to prevent a backslide. If these past two weeks have pushed one more person to get vaccinated or saved one extra person from hospitalization or death, then we are all better off.”

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

 

Jersey City Times Staff

Murphy to Lift Indoor Mask Mandate for the Vaccinated Before Memorial Day

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According to a report in northjersey.com, Governor Phil Murphy will lift the state’s indoor mask mandate for vaccinated people before Memorial Day. The information came from “a  government source who was briefed on the decision said Friday.”

Murphy is expected to announce the new policy at a briefing today at 1 p.m.

The new rules will bring New Jersey into harmony with guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A CDC “Interim Public Health Recommendation” on May 13 announced that “fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.”

Covid-19 cases in New Jersey have fallen precipitously following a mass vaccination effort. On January 7, new Covid-19 cases totaled 7,749. On Saturday, that number fell to 378.