Last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers has apparently inspired Phil Murphy to ditch the testing-in-lieu-of-vaccination option in New Jersey, folks.
Murphy announced Executive Order No. 283 on Wednesday. Dating back to September 2021, workers were permitted an alternative to Covid-19 vaccination: testing once or twice per week. New Jersey healthcare employees and nursing home staff will now need to be fully vaccinated – including boosted – or face losing their positions.
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“We are no longer going to look past those who continue to put their colleagues and perhaps, I think even more importantly, those who are their responsibility, in danger of COVID. That has to stop,” Murphy explained at an Atlantic County event “Testing out will no longer be an option.” Certain medical conditions, disability, and religious-based exemptions will be the only ways around the new requirement.
The decision, which comes amid stories of hospital staffing shortages exacerbated by the firing of unvaccinated employees, prompted a swift backlash from some legislators.
“Doctors, nurses, and other medical caregivers have been fighting this fight against COVID-19 since the very beginning,” said State Senator Holly Schepisi (R-39). “After nearly two years, they’re tired, they’re burnt out, and they’re ready for a break. Instead of giving them extra support, they’re getting another new mandate from Governor Murphy that will further thin their ranks and increase the workload of those who remain. It doesn’t make any sense and it certainly won’t be good for patients.”
Murphy is relying (in part) on “breakthrough” case data suggesting the boosted are less likely to end up hospitalized. Last week, SCOTUS declared the Biden Administration’s OSHA mandate for companies with 100 or more employees unconstitutional but, in a separate 5-4 ruling, preserved his right to mandate vaccination for health care workers.
Schepisi countered the new Murphy executive rule with a recent Israeli study that showed little added benefit from even a fourth booster in stopping Omicron’s spread.
“The governor’s executive orders stopped being about science long ago,” added Schepisi. “There’s absolutely no data in support of this new executive vaccine mandate on health care workers. Even worse, Governor Murphy’s order may actually lead to greater spread of COVID in health care facilities by eliminating the testing option which with Omicron is proving to be a safer alternative to determine if someone is positive as vaccines have proven to be ineffective at stopping the transmission of this variant.”
One week before he was sworn into a second term on Tuesday, Governor Murphy issued a new “health emergency declaration” that grants him vast powers under the New Jersey Constitution. Murphy issued the declaration AFTER the Democrat legislature decided against granting him an extension of his then-expiring authority.
“We’re at the stage of the pandemic where there’s no excuse to circumvent the legislative process,” Schepisi continued. “While Omicron surged through New Jersey over the past month, this week the numbers have drastically declined. Seven counties have seen their infection rates drop at least 40%, including Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, Monmouth, Passaic, and Somerset. In Union County, the infection rates have dropped over 50% this week alone. Nothing about this order is so urgent that it needs to be done today. We should discuss this kind of policy change in an open and transparent manner, and we should give health care workers the opportunity to tell us their concerns. After everything they’ve been through, they know a hell of a lot more about the impact of this virus than Governor Murphy ever will.”
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