COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Not Needed For Township Employees

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Moorestown Township employees aren’t likely to be subject to a vaccine mandate any time soon, Township Manager Kevin Aberant said on Monday night.

“I have instituted a mask mandate in township buildings, and the staff and public have been very compliant,” Aberant said at Monday night’s council meeting. “We are always worried about employee safety, but we don’t have any positive cases right now.”

Vaccine mandates have come down from the state in other areas of life that impact township employees.

Employees at daycares, public schools, state employees, employees in hospitals, correctional facilities, long-term care and assisted living facilities, specialty hospitals, in-patient rehab facilities and more are all required to be fully vaccinated or face weekly testing.

“No one is positive and everyone is compliant,” Aberant said. “I’m not sure we need a shot mandate for employees right now.”

The comments came during a discussion about a possible return to in-person council meetings as the rates of new coronavirus cases and coronavirus-related deaths continue to drop.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to list Burlington County in the “red zone” for new coronavirus cases, defined as an average of 100 positive cases per 10,000 people.

The New Jersey Department of Health’s most recent COVID-19 activity report put the county in the “yellow zone” last week after it was in the “orange zone” for seven days.

Moorestown Council began meeting via Zoom at the start of the pandemic in March 2020. It briefly returned to in-person meetings, using a hybrid method in which meetings are also livestreamed and residents can participate by phone.

When the emergence of the delta variant resulted in a mass increase in coronavirus cases, Township Council returned to an all-virtual setup.

With the recent decline, Township Manager Kevin Aberant directed township employees to study what other towns are doing. They found that about half the county’s municipalities meet in-person, and half meet remotely.

Aberant said he would have a discussion with Mayor Nicole Gillespie before the township’s next meeting on Oct. 25.

As of Thursday morning, there have been 52,663 cases of the coronavirus and 927 coronavirus-related deaths in Burlington County since the pandemic began in March 2020. Moorestown saw 92 new cases in September, according to Gillespie.