The Murphy Administration’s latest guidance urging schools to exclude unvaccinated children from extracurricular activities is drawing fire from many quarters including pockets of resistance in the state legislature.
“Taking away school sports and extracurricular activities from children who are Covid negative and have already sacrificed so much these past two years is harmful, irresponsible and completely misguided,” said Assemblyman Chris DePhillips (R-40). “It is very clear that Governor Murphy and the state Health Department believe strong-arming parents into vaccinating healthy children so they can fully experience school by participating in sports and extracurricular activities is going to somehow make a meaningful dent in the number of Covid-19 cases; however, state data demonstrates that fully vaccinated individuals are still catching and transmitting the virus.”
–
DePhillips pointed out that approximately 1 in 3 positive Covid-19 tests in New Jersey for the week leading into Christmas came from a “fully” vaccinated subject.
The state has tallied 91,000 breakthrough cases to date.
“Parents, not Governor Murphy or Commissioner Persichilli, are the ones who get to make medical decisions for their children,” added DePhillips. “Instead of benching and punishing kids who are not fully vaccinated, we should be encouraging participation in extracurricular activities, because we know how beneficial it is to a student’s physical and mental health and their development and success. Our children’s best interests must be safeguarded, not exploited.”
–
