Officials in the city of Camden have launched a new initiative in an effort to get more residents to take the COVID-19. This comes as the number of positive cases is on the rise across Camden County.

“My new goal for Camden is 70%. If we can get up to 70%, we can push forward,” says Camden Mayor Vic Carstarphen. “We are at 55% now for shots, when it comes to first shots of doses of the vaccine.”

Carstarphen says that the rate for 12- to 17-year-olds is even lower, at about 20%. But he says that this number has been increasing, partially due to pop-up clinics like the one held last week at Dudley School.

“Taking health officials with us into the community and knocking on doors and talking to residents. I’ll be out there with a bullhorn in the streets letting them know, ‘Let’s go. Let’s take pride in and do what we have to do so we all can be better,’” Carstarphen says.

While the vaccination rate in the city is in the 50s, the rest of the county sits at around 70%. County officials say that most of the positive cases are among the unvaccinated.

“Three weeks ago we were averaging eight or nine, so it’s increasing exponentially and we’re back to about May numbers now, as far as the average daily cases,” says Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli.

Officials say that while they can’t put a mask mandate in place – it would have to come from the Murphy administration – they are asking residents to take the spike seriously.

"Most of that growth is due to the delta variant, so we're trying to inform the public about it. They should be wearing masks even if you are vaccinated and indoors. We want to try and stop the spread,” Cappelli says.

Camden County also announced additional funding for small businesses, thanks to the Cares Act. An additional $10 million will be available to qualifying business owners.