NEWS, SPORTS, COMMENTARY, POLITICS for Gloucester City and the Surrounding Areas of South Jersey and Philadelphia

Jefferson Health – New Jersey Receives Magnet Redesignation
*Gloucester City Town Watch Meeting Thursday June 22

Murphy Drops COVID-19 Vaccine for Health Care Workers

  •  

 

(The Center Square)(JUNE 14, 2023)(CNBNEWS)-- — Gov. Phil Murphy has dropped a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers, ending one of the last vestiges of the state's pandemic-related restrictions.

Murphy signed an executive order on Monday that lifts a requirement that hospitals and other health care settings maintain a policy requiring their workers to be up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations.

Screenshot 2023-06-14 at 15.42.15

He said the directive aligns the state with recent updates to federal vaccine requirements "and reflects our different circumstances now, as compared to the past few years." 

 

"My administration will continue to take responsible steps to adjust New Jersey’s COVID-19 policies and guidance accordingly," Murphy said in a statement. "COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and I continue to encourage all residents to stay up to date on their vaccinations."

Unlike many Northeast states, New Jersey didn't mandate vaccines for state workers and allowed them to be tested for the virus instead, in some cases twice a week. 

But groups representing unvaccinated health care workers have pushed the state to eliminate that policy, arguing that it is punitive and unnecessary. 

In April, Murphy lifted a pandemic-related requirement for unvaccinated employees in health care settings to undergo routine COVID-19 testing while lifting both the vaccination and testing requirements for workers in congregate and long-term settings. 

 

Murphy's latest executive order lifts the remaining requirement for health care settings to require their workers to be current on COVID-19 vaccinations.

The federal public health emergency, declared by the Trump administration in 2020, expired on May 11 after the Biden administration and Congress agreed to allow the declaration to expire.

Last week, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that it will rescind its rule requiring most employees of federally-certified health care providers to be vaccinated. 

Meanwhile, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its guidelines for COVID-19, shortening quarantine times, ending a recommendation for regular testing in schools, and scaled back mask recommendations, emphasizing that people should still take personal precautions to avoid spreading the virus.

New Jersey has reported more than 3 million COVID-19 infections and an estimated 36,000 confirmed and probable deaths related to the virus, according to the state Department of Health. About 78% of the state's eligible population have been vaccinated, according to the agency. 

While New Jersey’s public health emergency ended in 2022, a state of emergency declaration related to COVID-19 issued on March 9, 2020, remains in effect. 

The state's Republicans have urged Murphy to end the state of emergency and give up his expanded powers under the declaration.

Comments