Board of Health

City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 July 20, 2021 MEETING MINUTES Meeting Call to Order – 5:31 PM Board President Christine Harris read the following Sunshine Law: This meeting, which conforms to the provisions of the Open Public Meeting Act, Chapter 231, and Public Law of 1975 is a regular meeting of the City of East Orange Board of Health. Notices have been filed with our official newspaper, with the City Clerk, and posted on regular bulletin boards. The public is permitted to participate at this meeting. Zoom Telecommunication ID: 965 2537 6248 Meeting Link: https://zoom.us/j/96525376248?pwd=MjRmaDFqYmpqbzRHaFg3WjRtcFhlZz09 After the roll call, it was determined there was a quorum to convene the meeting. Board Members Present: Christine Harris, President Horace H. Henry, Vice President Tobbia M. Corbitt Deanna Phillips Angela Jones-Williams Dr. Tonya X. Cook Council Liaison: Leneus Bergson - absent Board of Health Counsel: Attorney Shantika Dorsey Health Department Staff: Dr. Griffith, HHS Director Victor Kuteyi, Health Officer - absent Mayoral Staff: None Public in attendance: None Approval of June 15, 2021, Meeting Minutes: Approved Unanimously pg. 1 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 July 20, 2021 MEETING MINUTES Announcements President Harris: 1. President Harris attended the H&E Commission Meeting on 6/28/2021 and presented a brief summarization on the BOH’s position on Adult Recreational Marijuana. Doctor Griffith provided commission members with the BOHs Position Paper on the issue. 2. BOH members voted to take August as their sabbatical and resume meeting in September. 3. President Harris expressed the need to revisit and advance issues listed under Old Business. Dr. Griffith Updates: Recreational Marijuana Ordinance Updates President Harris asked if there had been any feedback from City Council on the BOH’s Position Paper on adult recreational marijuana. Dr. Griffith shared there had been no feedback except for one member of the committee thanking the board for their input. At this time, it has not been discussed further but she anticipates that during the next Health and Education Committee meeting perhaps we'll know more. President Harris and BOH members expressed interest in providing additional input if required and viewing the final ordinance prior to its ratification. President Harris presumes there are going to be more detailed discussions and planning including hookah parlors, as it is related to the marijuana cultivation and processing components. President Harris asked whether the licenses are going to be issued to different individuals or will one individual be permitted to hold more than one license? Dr. Griffith stated she has very limited information at this time on the legislation. She has requested that when there are conversations and planning meetings and preparation for the legislation at least somebody from health is present. Dr. Griffith shared her belief that no one from the department has been present as the conversations have been geared towards Council and Legal. East Orange School District President Harris expressed concern regarding the preparation of schools prior to reopening. Dr. Griffith stated there have been some discussions, between the EOSD and the Health Department since the last BOH meeting, relaying our expectations regarding masking. With the new variants circulating and an increase in cases in different areas, everybody, teachers, and students should be masked. Dr. Griffith shared HO Kuteyi is on vacation but will be able to provide an update regarding the EOSD and their level of preparedness during the next meeting. The 6 Licenses of Adult Marijuana President Harris stated she is unsure if something will be adopted relating to the permissible number of licenses for an individual within an ordinance or we just must wait until the final ordinance is drafted. Trustee Corbitt asked if an individual can apply and receive all six licenses. Dr. Griffith stated she believes the legislation will be drafted in a manner that would pg. 2 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 July 20, 2021 MEETING MINUTES prevent a monopoly. Dr. Griffith shared the licensing restrictions may not be outlined in the legislation but provided in the basic processes for the licensing division. President Harris gave examples of two licenses, (cultivation and processing) that could possibly be issued to one individual. Border Crossings President Harris asked if there have been any reports of unvaccinated individuals being transported into East Orange. Dr. Griffith shared she is not aware of any reports regarding this but unless it touches health she would not be involved in those conversations. Trustee Corbitt relayed hearing news reports indicating that the new variant is present in all states, is increasing in numbers infected and a rise in hospitalizations. President Harris shared a conversation she had with a neighbor regarding the smell of marijuana in her building. Trustee Corbitt asked if any regulations restrict smoking in residential buildings. Dr. Griffith shared East Orange has the smoke-free or Clean Air Act, however, what we're seeing is many building owners or property managers are saying it's their unit of the individual, so they can't do anything about what they do inside of their unit. Perhaps there can be a term or stipulations of conditions in the lease where the building owner indicates that the environment needs to be smoke-free and the smoker can go outside or to a designated areas outside, but it shouldn't be in the building. COVID-19 Updates The number of East Orange residents that have been fully vaccinated is still under 50%. That does create a greater degree of concern, especially because of the variants that are circulating but what we're doing is we have a full vaccination schedule still every Wednesday on Central Ave and so individuals are starting to understand a steady locale for vaccinations. We're also hosting clinics in the evening in front of City Hall. We're also working to partner with different events, as well as the county, to make sure that there is widespread access beyond the pharmacies, hospitals, and urgent care centers. We have seen a pattern of individuals changing their minds about receiving the vaccine for personal reasons, such as fear of spreading the virus and its variants to elderly or immune- compromised family members. For the most part, the feedback we're getting is if it's not required residents don’t see a need to take it. We are seeing an average of four positive cases from day to day so we're evaluating that and we're seeing it in the surrounding areas as well due to things reopening. President Harris remarked it would be beneficial if death certificates listed the primary cause of death instead of attributing it to complications of COVID. Hopefully, we'll have more statistical data regarding the causes of death. Trustee Corbitt asked if we have the numbers or percentages of individuals vaccinated within the city as well as the county. Dr. Griffith stated those statistics can be located on the State’s DOH dashboard. The dashboard is located on the DOH’s webpage and allows you to not necessarily see the exact number but they do break down the percentages by age so they will pg. 3 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 July 20, 2021 MEETING MINUTES list 18 and over and those between 12 and 17. According to the dashboard, we are still at under 50%. The dashboard is associated with a heat map that reflects the starting figures, any changes as well as the other municipalities across the state. Vice -President Henry remarked some time ago we discussed the idea of reaching herd immunity in the community and while we understand the intake of data is managed by the State, we would love to know how close we are to our herd immunity goals. Vice-President Henry stated the objective is to know how close we are and project a timeline by which we can obtain herd immunity. Dr. Griffith stated her reasoning for sharing the dashboard information is to allow everyone an opportunity to see the changes as they are reported and how we compare to other jurisdictions in the area and those across the state. The idea of herd immunity is at this point not so much a term or concept that individuals are globally working towards they want to see that most residents are vaccinated because we're seeing breakthrough infections. Even worse individuals who have been vaccinated even locally are testing positive and so we are still working towards trying to get as many of our residents vaccinated but we're not even at 50% yet. On a county level, the goal is to make sure at least 70% of Essex County residents are vaccinated. We have reached the 70% goal for the County but have not surpassed the 50% goal for East Orange. When we first started tracking the percentage, we were close to 43% and then it increased to 45% and then 46% so it’s increasing incrementally. President Harris asked if all entities providing the vaccine were entering their data into the NJIIS database? Dr. Griffith shared everyone who is authorized to offer vaccinations is required to enter the same information into NJIIS. Dr. Griffith also shared some municipalities have had a tremendous response to vaccination so when you look at the number being skewed it makes sense that the County would be at 70% but East Orange would be below presently. Dr. Griffith remarked there is a fluctuation of the number of residents we vaccinate which varies at each clinic, however, our efforts are consistent. COVID-19 Messaging President Harris stated there is a lot of mixed messaging surrounding COVID-19 and expressed the need for consistency and feels the universities and junior colleges should concentrate more on how COVID-19 affects the youths socially (not being able to socialize and having to social distance), and peer pressure (not getting the vaccine because their friends don’t want to or feel it will not affect them because of their age). President Harris applauded the Health Department for their efforts in education and providing vaccinations. Old Business President Harris asked how we should begin to push forward the unresolved issues post- COVID. Dr. Griffith stated we must wait until we know a little bit more even about the cannabis legislation so that the mercantile license can be updated to reflect what is going to pg. 4 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 July 20, 2021 MEETING MINUTES take place with the cannabis legislation. President Harris stated she believes the City is losing a lot of revenue because items such as the E-Cig are still pending. Dr. Griffith stated the perspective is that the mercantile license covers it all. So, if the mercantile license supposedly covers it all we must make sure that the language adequately reflects that. The goal is not to make license fees become a burden for residents in addition to the other fees but at least it's reasonable and allows us to monitor a little more effectively. The cannabis legislation is going to be another component we will have to determine how it is going to fit into that and if it's going to have its separate structure. President Harris asked for clarification on whether the cannabis ordinance is going to be incorporated into the mercantile ordinance. Dr. Griffith stated it may not be incorporated in the ordinance but because there is a public health component, but they may need to change it or make modifications in the future. Health Department Relocation President Harris asked if there has been any further discussion regarding the relocation of the health department. Dr. Griffith replied she is not at liberty to speak about that right now. But noted there are going to be some minor renovations over the next few months. Dr. Griffith shared one of the first things that we're looking to do is ensure the circulation of air and air conditioning units are modified so that there's an even temperature in our basement. Restrooms are also going to be renovated and so we will slowly move throughout the building to make sure that at least those top priorities are accounted for and then address some of the others depending on the overall timeline. WIC Relocation President Harris asked if there has been any mention about a new location for WIC since they have been closed and offices have not been reopened? Dr. Griffith shared Ms. Blue is exploring some spaces, but it is unclear at this time whether they will be moving into another rental. She also concurred with President Harris stating it would be ideal to have the Health Department and all its clinics housed in one location. President Harris offered that the old police building on Munn Avenue would be an ideal location. Trustee Phillips asked if the old building would be torn down, a new facility built or remodel the existing building. Trustee Phillips remarked remodeling the existing building is not ideal as the interior needs repair. COVID-19 Testing Locations Trustee Corbitt asked if COVID testing is occurring throughout the city. Dr. Griffith replied in the affirmative. Residents may visit our website at www.eovaccine.org to determine Municipal testing locations. There is also testing that occurs at multiple pharmacies, EOGH, Dr. Salerno on Park Avenue, and the Urgent Care & Walk-in Medical Suite located at 200 Freeway Drive. Dr. Griffith noted that in the beginning testing was offered at no out-of-pocket cost to individuals under the Cares Act. Currently, testing is billed to your insurance, however, there are administrative fees that may not be covered. Individuals seeking testing should contact the entities providing the testing to ensure there will not be any fees charged to the resident. pg. 5 City of East Orange EAST ORANGE BOARD OF HEALTH NEW JERSEY REGULAR MEETING East Orange Department of Health & Human Services 143 New Street East Orange, New Jersey 07017 July 20, 2021 MEETING MINUTES We are also offering testing at most of our vaccination clinics, so kids have an opportunity to be tested while getting the vaccine. Attorney Dorsey Updates: President Harris asked if Attorney Dorsey had any news to share regarding the status of the marijuana ordinance. Attorney Dorsey replied not at this moment, but Attorney Abuobead will provide the Board with any updates. Open Discussion: Trustee Phillips asked for guidance regarding a student who was advised she will not be allowed to graduate if she refuses vaccination. The student tried to obtain an exemption letter from her doctor but was refused due to the doctor not wanting to have any vaccination exemptions on her record. Dr. Griffith shared some students have sought FDA exemptions because the vaccines are currently still under authorization and most received or were able to pursue an FDA exemption. There was a further discussion involving the student’s reluctance to be vaccinated. Attorney Dorsey shared she would do some research regarding this topic as there are still statutes in place which protect an individual right to refuse vaccination for medical or religious exemptions. Trustee Phillips inquired whether the BOH meetings will continue virtually after the sabbatical and will they remain on the third Tuesday of every month. President Harris affirmed that meetings would occur every third Tuesday monthly and continue virtually. Vice-President Henry asked for an update and clarification on whether the East Orange ShopRite will close during the Brick Church redevelopment. President Harris stated she is not aware of when the construction is going to begin, or if it's going to be staggered in such a way that they will still be able to do some business or if they're going to close completely. President Harris shared the PNC Bank is closed in that location likely due to the impending construction. Trustee Phillips shared she received information during another community meeting with Director Jennings of Planning, stating the ShopRite is going to remain open for as long as possible throughout construction. Trustee Phillips also mentioned the configuration may change as the ShopRite and Forman Mills are reportedly going to swap spaces, but that may be outdated information. President Harris remarked the redevelopment would be a welcome change. She also commented on how lovely the Brick Church and former East Orange train stations were, and we should maintain the cultural history and architecture of the two stations. At the conclusion of Board business, President Harris adjourned the meeting at 6:46 pm. Respectfully submitted, Jo-Ann Mills Board Clerk pg. 6