Dear Friends,
We continue to receive a lot of calls from citizens frustrated by the difficulty of getting the COVID-19 vaccination. The biggest issue remains the fact that there is still not enough vaccine to go around.
This message from the Cape May County Department of Health explains more.
What everybody should do is the following:
- Make sure you are registered with the state to receive the vaccine: covidvaccine.nj.gov.
- Anybody who is not able to register online can call a state hotline at 855-568-0545. Live agents are available to guide residents through the process in English or Spanish. Residents also can call the county at 609-464-6581 or the Mayor’s Office at 609-525-9333 for assistance.
- The state will let you know when you become eligible for the vaccine and provide instructions for signing up.
After the state emails them to let them know they can schedule an appointment, Cape May County residents are being directed to the county’s vaccination site in Avalon.
Some residents have been led to believe that Avalon has vaccinations for its own residents. That is not the case. The site there is for all Cape May County residents. The county will open more sites – and Ocean City has volunteered to host one – as more vaccine becomes available.
Once registered individuals become eligible, the state is also inviting them to try to schedule appointments at any available location.
That is the source of much of the frustration. Places like ShopRite have very few availabilities, and online registration for the new megasite in Atlantic City puts you in a virtual line that can include tens of thousands of people vying for a much smaller number of appointments.
This process can take many hours with small odds of success. I have directed our Community Services Department to see if there is a way we can help our seniors navigate this confusion.
The Boardwalk is back open and the cleanup and rebuilding process is underway at Playland’s Castaway Cove following the recent fire.
Our Tourism Commission and the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce are working on campaigns to let everybody know that Ocean City will be open for business and better than ever as we move past a trying year for all businesses.
I hope you all join me in paying tribute to Ocean City’s Joe Caserta, who passed away last week at age 98. I was proud to congratulate Joe and his late wife, Eileen, on their 70th wedding anniversary in 2018.
Like so many other of our residents, Joe and Eileen vacationed in Ocean City every summer before retiring here in 1987.
Joe was active in the local VFW post and a regular at the boardwalk flag-raising ceremony every summer. Others knew him from the public tennis courts or from his family’s participation in the Night in Venice boat parade each year.
Joe was far from ordinary.
In World War II, he was a tank driver in some of the fiercest battles in Europe. His bravery earned him the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and countless other medals and honors, including the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, presented by the French government here in Ocean City in 2013.
We should be grateful for his service to country and community, and I hope you will join Michele and me in extending deepest condolences to his family and friends.
I hope you all have a great weekend. We will light the bridge red for Valentine’s Day on Sunday and red-white-and-blue for Presidents Day on Monday.
Warm regards,
Mayor Jay A. Gillian
