Jersey City Mayor Explains Why There's No Worker Vaccine Mandate

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop is standing by a decision not to require vaccines for city employees — not until Governor Phil Murphy offers statewide guidance.

In a lengthy Facebook post, Mayor Fulop said he feels incentives and positive peer pressure yield more results than vaccine mandates do for workers. Jersey City does require unvaccinated employees to keep masks on while working.

On Friday, Hoboken's Mayor Ravi Bhalla signed a mandate that city employees must be fully vaccinated by Aug. 9, and those who are not must take weekly tests and wear a face covering indoors and when interacting with the public.

Just last week, the Jersey City hit a vaccination milestone of more than 80 percent of residents receiving at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.

"We have gradually been seeing a vaccination increase in our municipal employees (already a high rate), and we expect this to continue," Fulop's post reads.

Jersey City has seen 23 new COVID-19 cases within the last two weeks as of Sunday, according to data collected by the city. As of July 31, all of New Jersey's 21 counties except one have now entered "high" or "substantial" levels of coronavirus transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meaning that the CDC wants residents in those counties to wear face masks again in indoor public settings — even if they've been vaccinated.

"Our vaccination rate has been good for Jersey City relative to every city in the region, and our hospitalization rate has been low, which is also a good sign. Let’s continue to focus on that as a city with positive/factual information to vaccine-hesitant people," Fulop's post reads.

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday announced several indoor activities in New York City — from dining, to entertainment and performances to working out — soon will be open only for people vaccinated against the coronavirus. Mayor Fulop's post mentioned residents questions about if a similar mandate was coming to Jersey City.

"Our approach at this point has been careful and clear that we want to wait for statewide guidance from the Governor. We have learned over the last year that a patchwork of local policies in Hudson County and broader NJ is more detrimental than beneficial and will ultimately put further strain on the fragile health & economic environment for residents & small businesses. We will monitor our situation here in JC closely and will also stay in communication with Governor Murphy to see what they deem best, but at this point, we will not take selective action here. If we need to deviate, we will explore that option, but our default position is to work together with the Governor," the post reads.

The city is also prioritizing vaccinating teens before in-person classes resume in September. Jersey City Schools Superintendent Franklin Walker stressed the importance of vaccinations in his latest superintendent's message. While the district is not mandating vaccines for students, Walker asked parents to "make every effort to get yourself and your children 12-years-old and above vaccinated."

Mayor Fulop said he will also be promoting the city's approach to vaccinations and teen vaccination on Hot97's “Ebro in the Morning” on Wednesday.