TRENTON – A final in-person public hearing and a virtual hearing session will be held in December by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic Task Force on Racial and Health Disparities, which is charged with evaluating and making recommendations to help address the inequities that have led to the disproportionate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the state’s communities of color.

The 23-member task force, created under legislation signed by Governor Murphy in June 2021, will offer recommendations on strategies to:

• Address the racial, ethnic, and health disparities and historical and systematic inequalities pertaining to race and ethnicity that have amplified the death rate in the state’s minority and vulnerable communities during the COVID-19 pandemic;
• Address the short- and long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the state’s minority and vulnerable communities; and
• Reduce and eliminate disparities among the various racial and ethnic populations within the state’s minority and vulnerable communities with respect to health status, access to high-quality health care, and utilization of health care services.

“These hearings have been instrumental in further illuminating the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact particularly on New Jersey’s minority and vulnerable residents,” said New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. “We look forward to the Task Force’s report next year and their recommendations for mitigating inequities caused or exacerbated by COVID-19 and for preventing such inequities in the future.”

The hearing dates are:

• Public hearing:
• DCF Training Academy, 30 Van Dyke Ave, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
• Saturday, December 3, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

• Virtual hearing:

• Tuesday, December 6, 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Zoom meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88653263220

Call-in information: US: +1 301 715 8592

Meeting ID: 886 5326 3220

The public hearing can also be watched live at linktr.ee/njcovid. Three previous public hearings were held in October and November and can be viewed here. 

Written comments also will be accepted via email at njcdtf@doh.nj.gov. Comments must be submitted no later than Friday, December 16, 2022. The Department suggests limiting written comments to three pages. Written comments can also be sent to the following mailing address and must be received by the same deadline:

New Jersey Department of Health

Office of Minority and Multicultural Health

55 N. Willow St., 4th Floor

P.O. Box 360

Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0360

Attention: Aracely Macias

Additional information on the Task Force can be found at: nj.gov/health/njcdtf.

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