The highly contagious delta variant now makes up 98.8% of all sampled COVID-19 cases for the four weeks ending Aug. 28, according to data released Sept. 15 by the state Health Department, as the pandemic reaches its highest levels since late spring.
State officials are responding to the variant and plans by the federal government to roll out a public health apparatus for providing booster shots.
A key issue is whether the booster shot would be recommended six or eight months after receiving a final jab from the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. If it’s six months, then upward of 2.4 million people in New Jersey would suddenly be eligible for the shot, so the state is looking at reactivating at least half of its previous six vaccine-mega sites, on top of county-level sites for all 21 counties.
The Biden administration, in pushing for a booster shot, has cited numerous studies suggesting immunity from the vaccine wanes over time.
Gov. Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy take part in the New Jersey 9/11 Memorial Foundation’s Empty Sky Remembrance Ceremony with New York Waterways CEO and Chairman Arman Pohan, New Jersey 9/11 Memorial Foundation Chairwoman Faith Miller, and local, state, and federal elected officials on Sept. 11, 2021. – JOSUE LORA / NJ GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
“Once the booster plan is released by the federal government, we do anticipate demand for shots to increase greatly,” Gov. Phil Murphy said during a regular COVID-19 press briefing on Sept. 15.
“We do not have any updates for you on booster shots, as the federal government has yet to give us any clearer guidance,” Murphy said. “We continue to pound away at planning for whatever the [Food and Drug Administration] and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices sends our way. When we do have final guidance, we will get to you with all the vital information you will need.”
More than 5.7 million people who live, work or study in New Jersey have been fully vaccinated—over 6.25 million have gotten at least one dose.
The youngest someone can get the shot is the age of 12 from Pfizer, which is in the midst of seeking federal approval for children as young as five.
Data posted by the New Jersey Department of Health showed the state logged 1,815 new daily cases. According to the federal Centers for Disease Control, the state logged a seven-day average of 2,087 cases as of Sept. 13, compared to a seven-day average of fewer than 200 cases during the July Fourth weekend.
The positivity rate among COVID-19 tests was 7.45% and the rate of transmission, or how fast the virus spreads, was 1.01.
There were 1,115 confirmed or suspected COVID-19 hospitalizations marking the eighth day in a row where New Jersey’s hospitals logged at least 1,100 COVID-19 patients.
The state’s plans to roll out a COVID-19 booster shot to as many as 2.4 million New Jerseyans in just a few weeks remain up in the air as the national and global scientific communities continue to dispute whether another jab is needed at this time for those who are fully vaccinated.
Gov. Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy take part in the New Jersey 9/11 Memorial Foundation’s Empty Sky Remembrance Ceremony with New York Waterways CEO and Chairman Arman Pohan, New Jersey 9/11 Memorial Foundation Chairwoman Faith Miller, and local, state, and federal elected officials on Sept. 11, 2021. – JOSUE LORA / NJ GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
“We still are awaiting word regarding federal authorization of booster shots,” Gov. Phil Murphy said during a regular COVID-19 press briefing on Sept. 13. “Even without this guidance, we continue work across all levels of government … to ensure we are prepared whenever that authorization comes down.”
President Joe Biden’s plans to offer Pfizer and Moderna booster shots to the general public this fall has been widely panned by epidemiologists and scientists.
Two senior officials are stepping down from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration – Dr. Philip Krause and Marion Gruber – who were both lead authors in a Sept. 13 study from The Lancet, concluding that “[c]urrent evidence does not, therefore, appear to show a need for boosting in the general population.”
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in addition, said that the U.S. and other highly vaccinated nations need to focus on sharing doses with countries in need of more supplies rather than adding extra doses.
An FDA advisory group is meeting Sept. 17 to further discuss the data surrounding the use of boosters.
Murphy said the goal is to prepare the state for the possibility that “the window for boosters could soon be open for all you who received your second doses as recently as six months ago – so pretty much everyone who had been vaccinated by March.”
To roll out the booster shot could mean the reactivation of an entire health care infrastructure put into mothballs since the late spring.
That includes a vaccine mega-site reopening each in North, Central and South Jersey, as well as a county-level site at each of the state’s 21 counties, according to New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli.
“We expect to have at least one mega-site up almost immediately, if not Sept. 20, shortly after that,” she said. It’s not clear which of the sites would be brought back online.
First Lady Tammy Murphy and Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli visit Belmar and conduct a vaccine site visit at D’Jais Bar & Grill on June 4, 2021. – JOSUE LORA / NJ GOVERNORS OFFICE
The sites were previously housed at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic County, Rowan University in Gloucester County, the Meadowlands Racing and Entertainment Complex in Bergen County, the Moorestown Mall in Burlington County, the New Jersey Expo Center in Middlesex County, and the Rockaway Townsquare Mall in Morris County.
At issue is whether the booster should be given six or eight months after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, according to Murphy.
Regardless, the governor said, “there will initially be a supply-demand imbalance.”
On top of that, the state would tap into county-run vaccine sites, and rely on the existing system of local pharmacies and hospitals, according to Persichilli.
“While we have tremendous capacity at our vaccination sites now, we are working hard to increase it further,” the governor said on Aug. 30.
The first people who got the vaccine were health care workers, those with preexisting medical conditions, seniors and other essential frontline workers, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that as a result, they would be the first to likely get a booster shot.
Nearly 1.4 million people who work in New Jersey could be subject to a new vaccine mandate imposed by the Biden administration requiring business with more than 100 employees to require that employees get the shot.
Under the White House policy, part of a six-point plan to control the pandemic, companies would be required to provide paid sick time to recover from side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine, and employees that do not get vaccinated would face weekly testing.
According to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, there are 4,646 private worksites employing nearly 1.4 million people that meet the criteria in the Garden State.
Companies that do not comply could face fines of $14,000 per violation, according to the administration. The move by President Joe Biden comes amid a surge in the delta variant, almost exclusively among those who have not gotten the vaccine.
President Joe meets with Gov. Murphy, First Lady Tammy Murphy, state, county, and local officials in New Jersey on Sept. 7. – EDWIN J. TORRES/NJ GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
Out of New Jersey’s 9 million residents, 5.6 million people who live, work or study in the state have been fully vaccinated. Anyone as young as 12 can get the vaccine for free.
Mask mandates, travel restrictions and business closures were lifted months ago and the virus has spread among unvaccinated Americans, driving up new daily case counts and hospitalizations to levels not seen since the spring.
“[W]hat makes it incredibly more frustrating is that we have the tools to combat COVID-19, and a distinct minority of Americans,” Biden said in his prepared remarks Sept. 9 at the White House. “We cannot allow these actions to stand in the way of protecting the large majority of Americans who have done their part and want to get back to life as normal.”
The COVID-19 vaccine mandate remains a touchy subject . In early August, NJBIZ asked 55 of the state’s biggest employers for their stance on requiring the shot among employees. Most did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Since then, companies have begun imposing vaccine mandates, mainly after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration fully approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Many of New Jersey’s largest employers are among those requiring the vaccine, including RWJBarnabas Health; CVS Pharmacy; United Airlines which uses Newark Liberty International Airport as one of its national hubs; and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson. Combined, they employ tens of thousands of New Jersey workers.
“I really think it’s up to the individual companies to do what they think is right,” said Tom Bracken, head of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, which mandated the vaccine last month for its staff, and for attendees at any in-person events.
Nevertheless, Bracken said Biden’s announcement could trigger a surge in vaccinations in New Jersey and across the country.
“Our pulse poll in late August basically showed a mixed bag in terms of employer and employee acceptance of mandated vaccines in the workplace,” said Bob Considine, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. “It should be up to the employer to determine, as every business has different levels of protection, different levels of interactions, employees with different points of views, and different situations relating to staffing needed to stay in business.”
Meanwhile, Murphy signed an order giving all health care and frontline workers until Sept. 7 to be fully vaccinated, and then issued another mandate for state workers and faculty and staff at schools and universities.
With full federal approval of one of the three COVID-19 vaccines being used across the nation, state leaders and public health officials are optimistic that more people will finally get the shot after months of holding out. And businesses are now entering into previously difficult terrain and are requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for their workers, and even in some cases for their customers and guests.
On Aug. 23, the federal Food and Drug Administration gave full authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccinations are under review for full approval and are still being administered under an emergency use authorization.
“The general school of thought,” Gov. Phil Murphy said earlier in August, was that “if the ‘emergency use’ words are dropped and this is fully authorized, there’s an expectation that there will be a bump in the numbers of folks that are willing to get vaccinated.”
“I don’t think there’s really any hard agreement on how big that bump would be,” he said.
When the vaccinations were first rolled out, demand outstripped supply through the early spring. Now with vaccination rates lagging and most COVID-19 restrictions still lifted, the highly contagious delta variant spread widely among unvaccinated segments of the population. Hospitalizations and daily cases have risen to their highest levels in months, almost exclusively among those without the shot, according to top public health officials and experts.
On the day the FDA issued full authorization, state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said it should help chip away at “those who have been hesitant to get vaccinated.”
“Having it fully authorized by the FDA means that there is no excuse for people to say this hadn’t been fully vetted and tested,” added Stanley Weiss, an epidemiologist and professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health. “We’ve had hundreds of millions of vaccine shots by now, compared to any other drug that we’ve licensed.”
“The short-term observation in terms of efficacy is so overpowering,” he continued. “Lots of people giving these arguments that it was experimental – they can’t say that anymore.”
Bracken
The day of the FDA approval, the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce announced that its staff must be fully vaccinated and that attendees to the organizations events also had to get the shot or show proof of a negative test. Chamber CEO Tom Bracken said he felt that the full FDA approval was just the impetus many business owners needed to enact a full-on requirement. He said the response from staff and member organizations has been positive and receptive.
“It takes one more piece of uncertainty away from vaccinations,” he said in a phone interview. “I think it will prompt more companies to mandate vaccinations, either with staff, or in their venues.”
Bracken suggested that “[p]eople who were against vaccinations for whatever reasons, this is not going to change their minds. The people who were just a little bit concerned about lack of full approval, this takes that away from them.”
Custode
State and federal law generally allows employers to require something like the COVID-19 vaccine for their staff, and to collect data on the proof of vaccination status. “However, until we receive further guidance from the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, we expect that employers will continue to be required to honor legally cognizable exemptions, such as disability-related and sincerely-held religious belief exemptions,” said Frank Custode, a partner and chair of the employment practice at the Roseland law firm Curcio Mirzaian Sirot. “It would be helpful for employers to have further guidance on the scope of the exemptions and any cognizable basis for denying any exemption requests.”
Many of the state’s largest employers are also members of the Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors, and several of which NJBIZ contacted a month ago about whether they were requiring vaccines had not changed their positions or if they did, it was not as a result of the FDA decision.
New Brunswick-based drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, for example, announced on Aug. 16 that it would require its staff and contractors to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 4.
Murphy on Aug. 23 announced that all state workers, K-12 teachers and school employees and staff along with employees at the state’s public universities had until Oct. 18 to get vaccinated. The decision was not the result of the FDA approval, he maintained.
Those decisions were made in July and August, weeks before the FDA decision.
Nonetheless, a number of employers went public with their own mandates after the FDA approval. CVS Pharmacy on Aug. 23 announced an Oct. 31 deadline for staff to get vaccinated if they work in any of the corporate offices or for “patient-facing roles” such as nurses and pharmacists. New hires in those jobs as of Sept. 15 also must get the shot, while retail pharmacists have until Nov. 30. And on Aug. 24, Delta Airlines said it was levying a $200 monthly surcharge on health premiums for any unvaccinated staff.
Sylvia Twersky, an assistant professor at The College of New Jersey’s public health department, predicted that the FDA decision would not “move the needle with people and employers who are vaccine skeptics.”
Twersky
“The final FDA approval may move some people and employers who were on the fence, especially combined with the delta variant surge in cases,” she said in an email.
Murphy said he felt differently: more employers were requiring the vaccine, and the delta variant had delayed their physical office reopenings. “[T]hose are two trends you’re seeing without question in the business community,” he said on Aug. 23.
Most employers are simply encouraging their staff to get the vaccine. This group includes Phillips 66; First Energy, the parent company of Jersey Central Power & Light; PSEG; Bank of America; accounting giant PwC; and grocery outlet Stop & Shop.
Silvera
Camden-based Campbell Soup Co. is not mandating the vaccine but is requiring employees to notify human resources about their vaccination status. Prudential Financial in Newark is requiring its staff to get the shot in order to return to the offices.
These trends should push up vaccination rates, suggested Stephanie Silvera, an epidemiologist at Montclair State University.
“[F]rom an economic perspective, having more of your employees vaccinated reduces the risk of having a significant outbreak at your company and therefore you are less likely to have to shut down or have employees out sick,” she said in an email.
The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce will require its entire staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and will require guests at in-person events to show either proof of inoculation or a negative test result, the organization said on Aug. 23.
The Chamber has urged businesses in the state to push workers to get the vaccine and its move comes the same day the Food and Drug Administration issued a full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, now known as Comirnaty, for individuals age 16 and older. Public health experts have said that FDA approval could spur more vaccine requirements by employers.
“This will be a standard policy for employees and across all N.J. Chamber events, and it should give even more confidence to our employees, members and guests about how seriously the Chamber is taking safety,” said Chamber President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Bracken in a statement. “Employers across New Jersey should continue to encourage their employees to get vaccinated, especially in light of the FDA’s full approval of the Pfizer vaccine.”
Tom Bracken, president and CEO, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. – NJBIZ FILE PHOTO
Event attendees will have to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken with 72 hours of the gathering or a negative antigen test taken within six hours. Guests will also be required to wear masks, except when eating or drinking. Enforcement will begin immediately. The Chamber’s next live event is a program to promote diversity on Sept. 14 in Livingston.
The organization cited the rapid spread of the COVID-19 delta variant, which has been driving up case numbers and hospitalizations in New Jersey and around the country.
New Jersey businesses outside the health care industry have moved cautiously on the question of whether to require vaccinations among employees. NJBIZ recently contacted 55 companies, including some of the state’s largest employers, asking whether they would issue a mandate. Eight declined to comment and 32 did not respond. Among those that did, many said that they had not adopted a requirement but were strongly encouraging their workers to get the shot, through strong messaging or incentives.
An online poll conducted by NJBIZ on the issue elicited 73 responses to the question: “Is your business/company requiring vaccines as a condition of employment?” Among the respondents, 70% said no; 18% answered yes; and 12% said they were unsure.
Nonetheless, some restaurants and live event venues have adopted vaccine requirements. And United Airlines, which operates a major hub at Newark Liberty International Airport, announced on Aug. 5 that all of its workers must be vaccinated by October.
The Chamber’s announcement also came hours before Gov. Phil Murphy ordered all teachers and school staff the entire state workforce to be inoculated by Oct. 18 or submit to testing.
Ruthie’s BBQ and Pizza in Montclair has become the second New Jersey restaurant going public with its COVID-19 vaccine requirement for indoor dining, according to a news report by the Montclair Local.
The move by the Essex County business follows a similar one by It’s Greek To Me Ridgewood in its namesake community, which on Aug. 10 began requiring patrons to show that they’ve gotten the jab in order to dine indoors.
Ruthie Perretti, who owns the eatery, reportedly told the Montclair Local that the move was in response to its close proximity to a nearby school and football field. She reportedly indicated that they’ve faced “no resistance” from customers who were asked to show their proof of vaccine. In addition, masks will be required if more than five customers are inside the establishment at once.
Ruthie’s BBQ and Pizza in Montclair. – COURTESY OF GOOGLE MAPS
Masks are not required under state law, while strongly encouraged by state officials. Gov. Phil Murphy has largely resisted going back to a facemask mandate at businesses and public places, with the exception of at K-12 schools.
On Aug. 16, New York City instituted a vaccine mandate for indoor activities such as indoor dining, gyms and theaters. Many other businesses up and down New Jersey and across the nation have followed suit, as the highly contagious delta variant surges among those who have not gotten the vaccine.
Live Nation Entertainment, which owns two of the state’s largest concert venues – PNC Bank Arts Center and BB&T Pavilion – said a vaccine mandate will go into effect on Oct. 4, while the smaller 2,500-person Starland Ballroom is requiring the shot by Oct. 1.
That gives fans and staff more than the one-month waiting period needed between the first and second doses of the more commonly used Pfizer and Moderna shots.
New Jersey health care workers and other frontline staff in “high-risk” settings, such as senior homes, are required to get the shot or submit to routine COVID-19 testing, under an order Gov. Phil Murphy recently signed.
The vaccine mandate enters murky legal grounds and has become a politically and culturally divisive topic. But state and federal laws generally allow employers to impose mandates, like for inoculations.
Two major venues in the Garden State – the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel and BB&T Pavilion Camden – are requiring patrons and staff to get the COVID-19 vaccine come Oct. 4.
“Vaccines are going to be your ticket back to shows, and as of Oct. 4 we will be following the model we developed for Lollapalooza and requiring this for artists, fans and employees at Live Nation venues and festivals everywhere possible in the U.S.,” Michael Rapino, the president and chief executive officer of Live Nation Entertainment, said in a weekend interview with NBC.
Live Nation manages events for both stadiums. Last week, Sayreville-based Starland Ballroom said it’s requiring its fans, staff and volunteers to get the shot by Oct. 1.
Those mandates come amid a steady flow of employers across New Jersey and the nation necessitating the jab for their staff and patrons as the delta variant surges almost exclusively among unvaccinated Americans.
Guns N’ Roses at MetLife Stadium on Aug. 5, 2021. – METLIFE STADIUM / KATARINA BENZOVA
The vaccine mandate enters murky legal grounds and has become a politically and culturally divisive topic. But state and federal laws generally allow employers to impose mandates, like for inoculations.
“We realize that some people might look at this as a dramatic step, but it’s the right one,” reads a statement last week from Jay Marciano, chairman and CEO of AEG Presents, which owns the 2,500-seat Sayreville stadium.
“[T]here might be some initial pushback, but I’m confident and hopeful that, at the end of the day, we will be on the right side of history and doing what’s best for artists, fans, and live event workers,” he continued.
But the BB&T Pavilion and PNC Bank Arts Center are orders of a larger magnitude, boasting 25,000 and 17,500 seats, respectively.
AEG and Live Nation have both promoted events for MetLife Stadium, an 82,500-seat venue in East Rutherford. On Aug. 5, they hosted 40,000 fans for a Guns N’ Roses concert–the stadium’s first show since 2019.
Neither proof of a vaccination nor a negative COVID-19 test were required for the show, nor will they be required during the Aug. 27 preseason game between the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles, according to the venue’s website.
Other major venues and shows could soon require the jab, like the Shadow of the City music festival at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park on Sept. 11.
The band Bleachers, which is headlining the festival, said in a Twitter post that it’s “working with the promoters and venues now to make sure all shows are vaccine” and “negative test for entry for the Bleachers tour.”
jack here – working with the promoters and venues now to make sure all shows are vaccine / negative test for entry for the bleachers tour. we're not messing around. every show will be as safe as possible without any weirdo bullshit.
“We’re not messing around. Every show will be as safe as possible.”
The Spaghetti Dinner Block Party on Aug. 26 in Hoboken will require the shots, as will Tech United’s Propelify Innovation Festival on Oct. 6. Both events are on the Hoboken waterfront. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark enacted the same requirement back in April.
Events up and down the Garden State are beginning to require the COVID-19 vaccine for admission, as lagging inoculation rates fuel a surge in the highly contagious delta variant. The Spaghetti Dinner Block Party on Aug. 26 in Hoboken will require the shots, as will Tech United’s Propelify Innovation Festival on Oct. 6. Both events are on the Hoboken waterfront.
Starland Ballroom in Sayreville. – AEG PRESENTS / STARLAND BALLROOM
And Los Angeles-based AEG Presents, which owns the 2,500-person Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, is requiring the vaccine or negative test results within the past 72 hours in order to gain admission to any concerts or shows after Oct. 1.
According to an Aug. 12 Starland Facebook post, the mandate will extend to all “fans, artists, and live event workers.”
“We realize that some people might look at this as a dramatic step, but it’s the right one,” reads a statement from AEG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jay Marciano. “[T]here might be some initial pushback, but I’m confident and hopeful that, at the end of the day, we will be on the right side of history and doing what’s best for artists, fans, and live event workers.”
In Hoboken, proof of vaccine for the block party will be required for anyone over the age of 12, while those under 12 – not yet able to get any shot – will be required to wear a face mask.
Delta surges
Over the past month, daily cases and total hospitalizations have climbed to their highest level since the late spring.
The state logged 1,697 new COVID-19 cases on Aug. 12, the highest since April 29, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. Total hospitalizations climbed to 763 statewide patients, the most since mid-May.
According to state data, the delta variant accounted for 90% of new cases in the four-week period ending July 24.
With less than 5.4 million of New Jersey’s more than 9 million residents fully vaccinated, the sizable pool of unvaccinated residents has provided ample ground for the new variant to spread, according to public health officials and experts.
Deaths and hospitalizations are almost exclusively among those who have not gotten the vaccine, according to the Murphy administration.
Gov. Phil Murphy has shied away from announcing new mandates or restrictions, like the reduced capacity orders that were in place for most businesses for over a year. He did sign a requirement that anyone in a K-12 school must wear a mask regardless of their vaccine status, and has “strongly” urged people to wear masks indoors while in public whether or not they’ve gotten the shot.
Health care workers and other frontline employees have until Sept. 7 to get the shot or submit to weekly testing.
But Murphy’s left it up to individual employers to decide whether or not to mandate the vaccine, even though New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that patrons beginning Aug. 16 need to get the vaccine in order to gain access to indoor dining, gyms and entertainment.
The vaccine mandate enters murky legal grounds and has become a politically and culturally divisive topic. But state and federal laws generally allow employers to impose mandates, like inoculations.
“Employers don’t want to be in the position of having to dictate the health care of their employees, nor do they want to be the police over customers frequenting their facilities,” said Michele Siekerka, president and chief executive officer of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. “It creates animosity and not a great customer experience.”
A North Jersey restaurant could be the first in the state mandating that any indoor dining patrons first get the COVID-19 vaccine, as lagging inoculation rates fuel a widespread surge in the delta variant.
The rules from the eatery – It’s Greek to Me in Ridgewood – go into effect Aug. 10, and follow similar requirements that go into effect on Aug. 16 for indoor dining, gyms and theaters in New York City.
“For the safety of our fully vaccinated staff and patrons at It’s Greek to Me Ridgewood … indoor dining will be reserved for those showing proof of vaccination,” reads an Aug. 3 post on its Facebook page. The restaurant is scheduled to open at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to the website.
“All families with children will always be given one of our cabanas or heated greenhouses,” both of which are outdoors, the post continues. “We realize this is a difficult time and are trying to accommodate the diverse needs of all of our patrons-including seniors and those with immune system deficiencies.”
Social media posts since then have all included the disclaimer.
Passing on passports
Gov. Phil Murphy has largely been resistant to vaccine mandates in the private sector, and many employers NJBIZ interviewed, either said they will not require the shot, or opted not to comment or even respond to inquiries.
Public sector workers – like state employees and teachers – still are not required to get the jab. Last week, the State Judiciary said that its more than 8,000 court staff and judges have to get the shot by Aug. 20.
The vaccine mandate enters murky legal grounds and has become a politically and culturally divisive topic. But state and federal laws generally allow employers to impose mandates, like inoculations.
Siekerka
“Employers don’t want to be in the position of having to dictate the health care of their employees, nor do they want to be the police over customers frequenting their facilities,” said Michele Siekerka, president and chief executive officer of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. “It creates animosity and not a great customer experience.”
Nonetheless, with less than 5.4 million of New Jersey’s more than 9 million residents fully vaccinated, the sizable pool of unvaccinated residents has provided ample ground for the new variant to spread, according to public health officials and experts.
“You can see here that the vaccines are still proving themselves highly effective and well more than 99% of those who have received them are finding protection from contracting the virus, from hospitalization and from a COVID-related death,” the governor said during his regular COVID-19 press briefing on Aug. 9.
According to the latest data from the New Jersey Department of Health, the 4,332 new positive cases between July 20 and 26 included 3,529 who were unvaccinated or not yet fully vaccinated: for an 18.5% positivity rate among the vaccinated.
Deaths and hospitalizations are almost exclusively among those who have not gotten the vaccine, Murphy said.
While Murphy has largely shied away from top-heavy mandates, he’s nonetheless contended that some alternative to the New York City rules could be in order.
“You want to make sure that whatever you put in place you can enforce,” added Murphy, who is leaving Aug. 10 for a 10-day vacation to his Italian mansion.
Last week, Murphy signed an order mandating employees get the vaccine if they work at New Jersey’s county jails and state correctional facilities, veterans homes, psychiatric centers, 71 acute-care hospitals, specialty hospitals, developmental centers, long-term care and assisted-living facilities, short-term and post-acute in-patient rehabs, home health agencies, behavioral health care facilities, and the state-owned University Hospital. They have until Sept. 7 to do so, or they have to submit to routine testing.
People in the state are also strongly encouraged to wear face coverings indoors – regardless of their vaccine status – in counties with notable spread of the virus, a threshold that now encompasses all of New Jersey’s 21 counties.
COVID-19 vaccine. – JOSUE LORA FOR THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
A late July poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that among Americans unvaccinated against COVID-19, 35% “probably will not” and 45% “definitely will not” get inoculated. Vaccine resistors remain steadfast despite rising cases of the delta variant and public leaders like Gov. Phil Murphy and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio are searching for ways to convince more individuals to get vaccinated.
On Aug. 3, De Blasio said that vaccine proof will be required to take part in most indoor activities, including indoor dining, gyms, and theaters. Murphy so far has avoided saying whether he would take the state that far, but he was considering tactics “in the general neighborhood of what New York City is doing.”
Vaccine mandates, by the government or private employers, have proven one of the most politically and culturally polarizing topics, more so than mask mandates. Perhaps not surprisingly, then, when NJBIZ reached out to 55 companies, including some of the state’s largest employers, eight declined to comment and 32 simply did not respond. Among those that did, many said that they had not adopted a mandate but were strongly encouraging their workers to get the jab, be it through strong messaging or incentives.
Siekerka
“Employers don’t want to be in the position of having to dictate the health care of their employees, nor do they want to be the police over customers frequenting their facilities,” said Michele Siekerka, president and chief executive officer of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. “It creates animosity and not a great customer experience.”
Some of the state rules on vaccinations do make sense, she said, citing Murphy’s recently enacted vaccine mandate for workers at county jails and correctional facilities, veterans’ homes, psychiatric centers, acute-care hospitals, specialty hospitals, developmental centers, long-term care and assisted-living facilities, short-term and post-acute in-patient rehabs, home health agencies, University Hospital, and all behavioral health care facilities. Those employees have until Sept. 7 to get the shot, or submit to routine testing every week.
“A lot of the health care system already were leaning in these directions,” Siekerka said.
Hospitals such as Trinitas, and two of the state’s largest health care networks: RWJBarnabas and Hackensack Meridian Health, are all mandating the shot.
Meanwhile the private sector, Murphy said on Aug. 3, is “empowered to work on a more ambitious timeline or to require either a more rigorous testing regime or eliminate that option completely and require all employees to be vaccinated as a matter of their continued employment.”
An online poll run by NJBIZ on the issue garnered 73 responses to the question: Is your business/company requiring vaccines as a condition of employment?” Among the respondents, 70% said no; 18% answered yes; and 12% said they were unsure.
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“It’s just if you can avoid it, and it’s never good management to dictate anything to employees these days,” said Tom Bracken, who heads the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.
Bracken
Of the companies that did respond to NJBIZ inquiries on the record, several were taking their cues from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention and news about the spread of the virus.
A TD Bank representative said that while the bank doesn’t currently mandate employee vaccinations, “the situation remains fluid and we are evaluating in real-time.” A Stop & Shop representative said that vaccines won’t be mandated unless required by state and local regulation.
A representative from Bank of America said the company is encouraging staff to get the shot, but not requiring it. Masks must be worn in areas where social distancing is difficult, such as elevators and common areas.
A representative for CVS Health said staff are encouraged to get the vaccine, but there is no mandate in place. “We’ve made it as easy as possible for employees to get vaccinated by providing access to dedicated appointments, holding employee-only clinics, and encouraging walk-in vaccinations at our stores,” said a CVS spokesperson.
Rite Aid, in an email, said the company had “nothing to report.”
Campbell Soup Co. said it’s not requiring the vaccine, but employees nonetheless must share their vaccination status with human resources. “Having this information will help us keep everyone safe and factor into our protocols, including the use of personal face masks, social distancing, travel and other office re-entry plans,” a spokesperson said.
Tim McLoone, owner of several restaurants including Iron Whale in Asbury Park and The Robinson Ale House in Asbury Park, Red Bank and Long Branch, said that “this is evolving on a daily basis now.” His staff recently returned to full masking for all employees, and he noted that “this can be very tough on the kitchen when the heat really ramps up and I think might be as dangerous as catching a disease. So, we are working on doing everything we can to get 100% vaccinations without mandating just yet, although everything is pointing in that direction.”
Joshua Suggs, owner of Delta’s Restaurant in New Brunswick, said his team is “still taking the pulse to see how employees would react to” a vaccine mandate and that he’s undecided if he’ll mandate a vaccine if and when the vaccine gets full Food & Drug Administration authorization.
Chef David Burke of David Burke Hospitality Management said that he needs to make the decision with the various partners he has for each of his restaurants, but that he has “no issue” with the New York City mandate, which affects two of his restaurants.
Amy Russo, owner of Toast in Red Bank, Asbury Park, and Montclair, told NJBIZ, “There’s no way in holy hell that I’d be asking my employees if they got the vaccine or not. There are so many things we can’t ask – we can’t ask someone’s age, but now we can ask this? It’s personal and that’s not something I’m going to mandate, nor am I even going to ask.”
“I make pancakes and eggs for a living. Now I have to ask people if they’re vaccinated and make a judgment on it? Kind of ridiculous,” Russo said.
A Novartis spokesperson sent this statement about the company’s policy: “At Novartis, we have communicated to our associates that we expect that everyone coming on campus has been fully vaccinated or has tested negative for COVID-19 within the last 14 days prior to each site visit. With the increase of people becoming infected with the highly contagious delta variant of the virus, and the potential for more variants to develop among the unvaccinated, we strongly encourage all of our associates to be vaccinated as soon as possible. We will continue to monitor the situation and update our policy as appropriate.”
Joe Berchtold, chief financial officer of Live Nation Entertainment – which operates PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel and the BB&T Pavilion in Camden – suggested during a second quarter earnings call on Aug. 3 that the trend is moving toward mandates. “I think what we’re seeing is a shift to increasing requirements for entry of either vaccinated or tested or fully vaccinated.”
But for the most part, employers “simply have not made up their minds,” said Corey Hannah Basch, a professor and chair of the public health department at William Paterson University – hence the radio silence. Many businesses are at an impasse, “waiting for others to make these types of decisions before they do so for themselves,” Basch said. “When and if the majority are initiating mandates, the behavior will become more normative,” she continued.
United Airlines, which uses Newark Liberty International Airport as one of its main hubs, said it’s requiring the vaccine for any hires after June 16. – 12ANONYMOUSUSER34/WIKIMEDIACOMMONS.ORG https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_EWR.png
Several businesses have already put requirements in place. In July, Lowenstein Sandler Managing Partner Gary Wingens informed his staff that come Aug. 2, the office would be open only to employees who have been fully vaccinated, citing “the progress we have made in making people feel comfortable returning to the office … and the emergence of the more virulent delta variant over the past few weeks.”
United Airlines, which uses Newark Liberty International Airport as one of its main hubs, said it’s requiring the vaccine for any hires after June 16. For those employees hired previously, the carrier is offering financial perks to pilots, and added vacation days. Masks don’t need to be worn at the corporate offices, by any worker who can show that they’ve gotten the vaccine.
Prudential Financial, based in Newark, said its staff must be fully vaccinated in order to return to the office. “We made this decision for the safety and well-being of our employees, in accordance with all applicable laws and after carefully considering both the latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health authorities,” said a Prudential spokesperson.
Employee rights
Timothy Ford, a partner at Einhorn, Barbarito, Frost & Botwinick, and member of the firm’s employment and litigation departments, pointed out that New Jersey law allows employers to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine and collect relevant data from their staff. But businesses need to securely store that data, not go beyond whether an individual got the vaccine, and make accommodations so that a worker who claims a religious or medical exemption is still able to participate in their job.
Gov. Phil Murphy called out a group of anti-vaxxers while speaking at a press conference Aug. 4, 2021. – NJOIT/GOVERNOR’S OFFICE – NJOIT / GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
Nonetheless, most are taking a “wait and see approach,” he said back in July.
But Donald Scarinci, founder and managing partner of Scarinci Hollenbeck, said that he won’t get involved in people’s personal health decisions. “We don’t believe that an employer has the right to tell people what they could or could not do with their bodies. There’s a privacy issue here and we’re not going to mandate an injection [for our employees],” Scarinci said.
Mask rules might differ for vaccinated and unvaccinated staff when the firm’s offices reopen Sept. 9, but that could depend on what’s going on with the variants, he noted. Fewer employees will return to the office than before the pandemic as some moved to primarily remote work permanently. For those who do come in, the firm has adopted a liberalized “if you think you’re sick” sick policy and also added filters to its HVAC system to better circulate the air.
But Scarinci, a constitutional law expert, will stay away from mandates. “I think it’s going to be a litigated issue … a major legal issue in the future, which is why I’ve taken the position, I want no part of people’s personal health decisions,” he said. “But it could also be said [that] if you don’t mandate the injection, you’re subjecting others to a risk. I think it’s a weaker argument, though, than the sanctity of the person’s body.”
Labor unions in both the public and private sector are both pushing for greater employee input over mandates. Murphy’s vaccine mandate did not extend to state workers, most of whom are represented by the New Jersey chapter of the Communications Workers of America, a Murphy political ally. Nor did it extend to transit workers or teachers and other school employees, who are represented by the New Jersey Education Association, a powerful financial backer of the Murphy gubernatorial campaign. “We have been in communication with relevant stakeholders regarding our policy including our union partners across both the public and private sectors,” Murphy said on Aug. 3.
“We look forward to working with the Murphy Administration and having cooperative discussions to ensure public health, while also respecting bargaining,” CWA-NJ State Director Fran Ehret said in a statement to several news outlets. “The state colleges and universities have already proposed that workers – both CWA-represented and otherwise — be subject to mandatory vaccination. We’ve been reviewing that proposal internally already and look forward to bargaining with the state on it.”
White
In the health care sector, the vaccine mandate has led to some grumblings among workers. One official at the Health Professionals and Allied Employees nurse’s union noted that “the vaccine mandate is a new job condition,” meaning that “by law and our contracts, we have a right to discuss how that will affect our members.” Debbie White, a career nurse and head of HPAE, warned in a statement that “there are some for whom the vaccine is prohibitive.”
María Eugenia Lanao, a spokesperson for 32BJ SEUI, a union that represents thousands of service workers, wrote that “for those who choose not to get vaccinated, we are bargaining with our employers to ensure that their rights are respected.”
“There should be opportunities for them to be re-assigned to other worksites, or where that is not possible that the testing requirements are free, easily accessible, and on paid time,” she continued.
Thousands of court staff and state judges across New Jersey will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine or submit to routine testing, according to an Aug. 6 afternoon announcement from the State Judiciary.
The announcement makes the State Judiciary – which handles the network of county and appeals courts, and the state Supreme Court – the largest government agency in New Jersey to mandate the jab for its workers.
It does not list the deadline for getting the shot.
The move comes as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations reach their highest levels in months amid a surge in the highly contagious delta variant among those still hesitant or unable to get the vaccine.
On Aug. 5, the state logged 1,345 new cases–the highest one-day spike in three months and four times the daily cases on July 1. Meanwhile, the state logged 599 hospitalizations, double what they were on July 1.
As of Aug. 4, the seven-day average was 1,103 cases, compared to a seven-day average on July 9 of 222 cases, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The new policy is being implemented to support a safe workplace for all members of the Judiciary and all court users amid worsening COVID-19 trends in New Jersey and across the nation,” said Judge Glenn Grant, acting administrative director of the courts.
At the start of the week, Gov. Phil Murphy signed an order mandating employees get the vaccine if they work at county jails and state correctional facilities, the veteran’s homes, psychiatric centers, 71 acute-care hospitals, specialty hospitals, developmental centers, long-term care and assisted-living facilities, short-term and post-acute in-patient rehabs, home health agencies, behavioral health care facilities, and the state-owned University Hospital.
Meanwhile, the bi-state Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs Newark Liberty International Airport, the seaports in Union and Essex counties, and the Hudson River crossings, is requiring a shot or a frequent negative COVID-19 test of it’s New York employees.
There are no announced plans for mandating vaccines among New Jersey Transit workers and Garden State PANYNJ workers, nor for state workers or school employees, but Murphy said it was being considered.
“We have been in communication with relevant stakeholders regarding our policy including our union partners across both the public and private sectors,” Murphy said on Aug. 3.
Thousands of public employees are represented by Communications Workers of America New Jersey Chapter and most teachers and school employees by the New Jersey Education Association of New Jersey.
“We look forward to working with the Murphy Administration and having cooperative discussions to ensure public health, while also respecting bargaining,” CWA-NJ State Director Fran Ehret said in a statement to several news outlets. “The state colleges and universities have already proposed that workers – both CWA-represented and otherwise — be subject to mandatory vaccination. We’ve been reviewing that proposal internally already and look forward to bargaining with the state on it.”
Private sector actors have slowly transitioned away from incentivizing their employees to get the shot toward an employee mandate, like the recent requirement announced by United Airlines, which uses Newark Liberty International Airport as one of its major hubs.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to grant full approval for either the J&J, Moderna or Pfizer vaccines, or all three of them, which legal experts contend would trigger more workplace vaccine mandates.
United Airlines is requiring all of its employees to get the COVID-19 shot by October, according to an Aug. 5, company-wide memo, making it the latest large corporation to enact the mandate in response to the surge of new cases among those without the vaccine.
“We know some of you will disagree with this decision to require the vaccine for all United employees,” reads the Friday memo to United employees from Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby and President Brett Hart.
Nonetheless, “the facts are crystal clear: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated.”
Those vaccinated by Sept. 20 will get an extra payday, the two executives added.
An estimated 90% of pilots and 80% of flight attendants have already gotten the jab, United said.
Employees will have until Oct. 25 or five weeks after the Food and Drug Administration fully approves any of the COVID-19 vaccines to be inoculated, whichever comes first. So far, the Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna shots have only received emergency approval.
United, based in Chicago, uses Newark Liberty International Airport as one of its main hubs in the nation.
Minimal mandating
Most employers have not mandated the COVID-19 vaccine.
Companies like Walmart have been among the few to do so, and health care employees and front-line workers are required by state law to get the vaccine by Sept. 7.
In New York City, patrons for indoor dining, gyms and theaters need to show that they’ve gotten the vaccine in order to gain admission.
But, mandates have slowly built up as – in New Jersey and across the nation – hospitalizations and daily cases reach their highest levels since the spring, almost exclusively among the unvaccinated.
On Aug. 5, the state logged 1,345 new cases–the highest one-day spike in three months and four times the daily cases on July 1. Meanwhile, the state logged 599 hospitalizations, double what they were on July 1.
As of Aug. 4, the seven-day average was 1,103 cases, compared to a seven-day average on July 9 of 222 cases, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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