NJ Teachers, State Employees Must Be Vaccinated Or Face Testing

NEW JERSEY — All New Jersey school teachers and staff, as well as state employees, must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 18, Gov. Phil Murphy said during a Monday afternoon news conference.

Murphy recently signed an executive order stating that all pre-K-12 school personnel must be vaccinated or undergo regular testing for COVID-19 at least once or twice a week.

The order covers all full-time and part-time employees at all schools throughout the state, including public and private schools, as well as charter and renaissance schools. It also includes administrators, educators, education support professionals, food workers, custodial workers, administrative support and substitutes, among other school employees.

"As the school year rapidly approaches, we are continuing to do all that we can to ensure as safe a start as possible," Murphy said. "We know that strong masking and vaccination protocols in tandem with other safety measures are our best consolidated tool for keeping our schools open for full-time in-person instruction and our educational communities safe."

During his remarks, Murphy noted that 5,116,596 individuals who live, work or study in New Jersey are fully vaccinated to date. Of that number, 10,123 positive “breakthrough” cases have been reported, or 1 in 500 individuals (.02 percent).

“As the delta variant continues its rampage we are seeing an increase in the number of breakthrough cases,” Murphy said. “However, the percentage of positive test results from fully vaccinated individuals continues to be only a small part of the overall.”

The governor also cited data that shows daily child hospitalizations due to COVID-19 are about 1,234 (a number that has tripled in four weeks) including 20 in New Jersey.

"We have received multiple local reports that point to an overwhelming majority of our classroom leaders having already taken their personal responsibility to their families and students and colleagues seriously, and gotten vaccinated," Murphy said. "Yet some continue to mistakenly dangerously grasp at the lie that kids can't get COVID or that they can't spread COVID. Neither of that is true."

“We’re not going to sacrifice the health of our kids or staff. Masking and vaccinations of both students and staff, along with a layered approach to safety, is our top priority for starting the year. And remember, if that weren’t enough, no students under the age of 12 are eligible to be vaccinated, and roughly only half of those older than 12 who are kids and students have been vaccinated.”

While Murphy didn't know the exact percentage of school staff who are vaccinated, he said teachers are "extremely well-vaccinated."

Murphy said schools have access to multiple funding sources to cover costs for vaccinating and testing, including emergency funding from the state and federal governments.

"I suspect you'll see more on top of what's already in there," Murphy said of that funding, adding if that more is needed, the state is prepared to add to it.

The Department of Health and the Department of Education have already issued guidance as to how states can implement testing, and is offering a free program to help school districts implement that testing.

"We want to make sure we do this in a way that the system can withstand it, that we can make it as easy as possible and as painless as possible," Murphy said. "More testing is good. The more testing we do, the more we understand the guts of this virus."

The announcement also extends those who are employed by state agencies, authorities, and public colleges and universities, with the same Oct. 18 deadline, Murphy said. This includes New Jersey State Police. New Jersey State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan said there would be consequences for any trooper who violates this policy.

However, not all are content with Murphy's latest announcement. Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican candidate for governor in November's elections, took issue with the announcement:

"Governor Murphy's announcement today is both hypocritical, and evidence that powerful Trenton special interests get to play by one set of rules, while the rest of us are forced to play by another set," Ciattarelli said in a statement. "Specifically, why is Governor Murphy willing to find common ground on a flexible vaccinate or test policy with the teacher's union, but not willing to do the same with parents who oppose his mask mandate for K-12 students? The answer, of course, is simple: average parents don't run a powerful union that funneled $10 million in dark money to benefit the Governor's campaign. The NJEA did, so they get to cut a deal. Parents did not, so they are told what to do without any recourse."

The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) said it would continue to encourage everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated.

“From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have called for following the guidance of public health officials to keep the students and staff in our public schools safe," NJEA President Marie Blistan, Vice President and President-elect Sean M. Spiller, Secretary-Treasurer and Vice President-elect Steve Beatty and Secretary-Treasurer-elect Petal Robertson said in a joint statement. "Gov. Murphy has been a great partner in that effort to ensure that our students continue to learn and grow while remaining as protected as possible. Today’s executive order, which requires school employees either to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or to undergo regular COVID-19 testing, is another example of Gov. Murphy’s unwavering commitment to the health and safety of NJEA members and the students we serve.

“For months now, NJEA has strongly supported and publicly promoted vaccination for all eligible individuals. We ran ads last spring featuring our members talking about the importance of vaccination. COVID-19 vaccines are the best tool we have to better protect our schools and communities against this pandemic and the terrible toll it continues to take. Public health experts agree on the importance of widespread vaccination. That is why we strongly agree that Gov. Murphy’s executive order is appropriate and responsible under current conditions."

New Jersey is the third state to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for teachers, behind California and Washington. The announcement comes as all 21 New Jersey counties hit a "high" transmission level of coronavirus for the first time since April 23, according to the latest rankings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Read more here: NJ Hits High COVID Transmission Rate, First Time Since April

On Monday, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave full approval to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, which will now be marketed as Comirnaty, for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older. It had previously only been authorized for emergency use, and that emergency use will continue for anyone ages 12 through 15, and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals.

"We hope today's news will persuade those who have been hesitant to get vaccinated," New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said. "We know from our COVID community corps volunteers that lack of full FDA approval has been cited by some as the reason they have not received the vaccination."

Earlier this month, Murphy announced a vaccine mandate for many health care workers throughout the state. Employees in hospitals, correctional facilities, long-term care and assisted living facilities, specialty hospitals, in-patient rehab facilities and more will be required to be fully vaccinated or undergo testing at least once or twice a week by Sept. 7. Read more: COVID-19 Vaccines, Testing Now Mandatory For NJ Health Care Staff

If the state doesn't see a significant increase in vaccination rates among those employees, Murphy has said that the state is ready to require vaccinations for them.

Health care facilities in the state have already taken steps to enforce a vaccination mandate. In mid-July, the Hackensack Meridian Health System announced that all employees would be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by November. Soon after, RWJBarnabas Health announced it would require all employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine by Oct. 15.

Health officials, including those at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have warned of rising coronavirus case numbers in New Jersey, possibly driven by the more-contagious delta variant.

In fact, all of New Jersey is now experiencing either high spread of coronavirus, according to the latest public health data. The CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors in public if they live in an area with "substantial" or "high" transmission of the virus — meaning that even the vaccinated should wear masks in indoor public spaces everywhere in New Jersey. Read more: NJ Hits High COVID Transmission Rate, First Time Since April

With reporting by Nicole Rosenthal and Carly Baldwin.