New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli Quarantining After Staffer Tests Positive For COVID-19
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS/AP) -- New Jersey's health commissioner is in quarantine again after possibly being exposed to someone with the coronavirus. Judy Persichilli is working from home because a staffer who works in her office tested positive for COVID-19 Wednesday night.
Just yesterday, Persichilli appeared at a coronavirus news conference with Gov. Phil Murphy. She self-quarantined last November after a similar exposure.
Meanwhile, some of the first people to get COVID-19 vaccinations at a Hunterdon County, New Jersey medical center were the relatives of top hospital executives and some of its trustees and donors, according to a published report. The shots were administered by Hunterdon Medical Center in December and early January, at a time when only front-line health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities were eligible.
Some of the recipients were in their 20s, an age group unlikely to qualify for the vaccine for many months.
A hospital spokesperson said donors and board members weren't given preference over eligible staff or at-risk individuals who were available, but that they received the vaccine when eligible recipients couldn't be located rather than have the vaccine doses go to waste.
"More than 99% of the doses Hunterdon Healthcare has administered so far have gone to prioritized health care workers, clinicians, seniors and at-risk individuals," spokesperson Jason VanDiver said in an email Thursday.
New Jersey reported nearly 4,000 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total count to 610,000. Over 19,000 residents have died from the virus.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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