Sahasra Bobbala | Thursday, January 27, 2022
Lift of the School Mask Mandate & Montgomery Board of Health Updates
Sahasra Bobbala | March 20, 2022
After 2 years of COVID-19, NJ has decided to remove the mask mandate in schools as a result of the decreasing coronavirus and omicron variant cases.
“I must thank the overwhelming majority of students, parents, administrators, educators, and support staffers who have worn their masks without problem or protest since our schools reopened for in-person learning. Thankfully, we have reached a point where we feel confident that we can take another step toward normalcy for our kids. Given the continued drop in new cases and hospitalizations, projections indicating a continued decline over the coming weeks, and the continued growth of vaccinations for our school-aged population, we believe that we can responsibly end the universal mask mandate," said Governor Murphy.
Despite the decreasing coronavirus cases, the Montgomery Board of Health continues to strongly encourage that children aged five and over are vaccinated. The pediatric vaccination rate is between 58% and 68%, as data shows that the age 5 to 11 population has a lower vaccination rate than the board would like. There has been plenty of discrepancy and controversy on whether or not they need the booster shot, but it is encouraged that they do, due to how the immune systems of growing children differ from adults.
At the recent Montgomery Board of Health meeting, members discussed a grant they were working with, the Office of local public health strengthening grant. This was for $291,000 and so far they spent about 50% of the funds. The second grant was the vaccine supplemental funding grant, which was for $50,000 and they spent about 98% of those funds.
As to ACO updates, the Rabies clinic vaccinated 158 pets. Pet licensing numbers are very low, as they are at 600 but should be over 3,000.
The Municipal alliance is applying for the next physical year grant, which has grant funding at a reduced amount. Their priorities are mental health and substance use prevention such as underage drinking, use of alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, and opioids. With the new Municipal building opening soon, they are advocating for a prescription medication dropbox, to show the community the importance of discarding unused prescription medication.
Overall, the Board of Health’s priority for April is to highlight the importance of public health, as people often get confused between public health & healthcare.
Omicron Outbreak & New Municipal Building in Montgomery Township
Sahasra Bobbala | January 31, 2022
When a tsunami strikes, it can do massive, unpredictably large amounts of damage to individuals living in a town, not only to structures but also to an entire country's coast.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy alluded to the huge health crisis that New Jersey is currently experiencing as an "omicron tsunami" in his weekly report on COVID-19. This term precisely describes the recent epidemic of Omicron, a new COVID-19 variant that is highly contagious.
On November 24, 2021, Omicron was identified and immediately notified to the World Health Organization (WHO). While working on sequencing samples and conducting experiments in Southern Africa, a laboratory team in Botswana led by Sikhulile Moyo, laboratory director at the Botswana-Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership and a research associate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, discovered the variant.
The 7-day average of new COVID-19 cases in Somerset County was 233 as of January 27, 2022, with 195 new cases. Although it is not as severe as the delta variant and cases have been declining over time, there is still plenty that must be done to tackle the issue.
The Montgomery Township election took place earlier this month on January 11, electing Mayor Devra Keenan, Deputy Mayor Shelly Bell, Committeeperson Marvin Schuldiner, Committeeperson Kent Huang, and Committeeperson Neena Singh to the Township Committee.
Devra Keenan, the mayor of Montgomery Township, has made effective efforts to keep the virus from spreading to the best of her ability, focusing heavily on vaccination, and Montgomery has achieved a vaccination rate of more than 90%. She says “at one point, I was literally at the Shop-Rite parking lot, saying to people: ‘hey did you get vaccinated.'”
Vaccines have been scientifically demonstrated to provide considerable protection against COVID-19. "Patients boosted with mRNA vaccinations displayed effective neutralization of Omicron just 4-6-fold lower than wild type, suggesting that boosters enhance the cross-reactivity of neutralizing antibody responses," according to a study from Massachusetts General Hospital. To neutralize omicron, everyone is strongly advised to take mRNA booster shots (Pfizer & Moderna).
COVID-19 and its variants have not only created a demand for a stronger sense of community and connection in Montgomery, but they have also made individuals acknowledge the need for new environmental and architectural modifications in the outdoors, as a result of the need to distance themselves from others. The concept of having the entire town walkable has also been addressed by Keenan.
Because of the town's rapid growth and the necessity for extra space for staff, Montgomery elected officials have chosen to build a new municipal building. The new site's development has begun, and the structure is located on Orchard Road near the junction of Route 206, where Convatec's corporate offices used to reside.
The new municipal complex will not only consist of a government office, but it will include a police station and a new public library, in addition to a rain garden. Study spaces, conference rooms, a children's section, and a lounge area all will be available at the Mary Jacobs Library branch. This way, Montgomery residents of all ages benefit.
The new municipal building is the next step in establishing an engaged and deeply involved community in the face of adversity, and it embodies Montgomery's bright future.