New Jersey has added a new sector mandated to have the COVID-19 vaccine: Childcare workers.
Gov. Phil Murphy announced at a press briefing Sept. 20 that he will sign an executive order that requires all childcare workers and facility employees in childcare settings to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1 or face regular weekly testing.
“We know there are already many childcare providers who are doing their utmost to protect the children in their care, their employees, and their communities,” said Murphy. “This order ensures that everyone is abiding by the same strong standards.”
Mask Mandate for All
Additionally, the order clarifies that effective this Friday, Sept. 24, all employees, visitors, students and children in a facility’s care ages two and over must wear masks indoors, with limited exceptions. This mirrors what is currently required in schools.
“We appreciate that it may be difficult to keep very young kids in masks for the majority of the day, but we are looking for these settings to provide kids with as much support as necessary,” Murphy said. State officials said there are currently 24 pediatric COVID-19 cases.
The mandate is the fourth the state has enacted. The first was for healthcare workers, who needed to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 7 or face at least weekly testing. State officials noted last week the rate of workers fully vaccinated in these settings rose to 77%.
Oct. 18 Deadline
The next mandate date is Oct. 18, when state employees and school employees are mandated to receive their two doses of Pfizer and Moderena or the one jab Johnson & Johnson. Those who are not vaccinated will face weekly testing requirements.
The governor said the mandate was enacted now as just a natural order after the previous ones.
“We had always said we would start with the most exposed elements of the workforce and then expand from there,” said Murophy. “This was always something on the card, we just hadn’t made the final call yet. We just feel this is the right time to do it.”
Following Parents Example
The requirements come after a recent poll showing strong sentiment across the U.S. for vaccine mandates and face masks in school settings and in New Jersey. A Monmouth national poll found 66% of Americans support requiring the face masks mandate for students, teachers, and staff. In school settings, the poll finds majority support (60%) for requiring teachers and school staff to be vaccinated. In New Jersey only, 67% support a mask mandate.
Murphy acknowledged that there would be difficulties with younger children, but believed that the actions they see around them will help.
“There is some amount of habit as these kids are used to seeing…mom and dad and maybe their older brother and sister are wearing masks,” said Murphy. “There is a habit that is in our midst that these kids are a part of, they see it, they internalize it, and we can bat at a better batting average then if we were starting from standing start.”
Vaccine Distribution
The number of COVID-19 vaccines administered in New Jersey totaled 11,481,639 in-state, plus an additional 424,260 administered out-of-state for a grand total of 11,905,899 as of Sept. 20. Of those who have received the vaccine, 5,593,993 received their second dose or the one jab Johnson & Johnson dose in state and another 182,630 out of state, bringing those fully vaccinated to 5,776,623.
In North Jersey, Bergen County has delivered 1,282,855 doses (626,182 fully vaccinated), Essex 995,452 doses (478,295), Hudson 902,647 doses (434,181), Morris 696,443 doses (339,026), Passaic 618,625 doses (298,955), Sussex 163,996 doses (81,254), and Warren 107,244 doses (52,652).
Daily Data
As of Sept. 20, the cumulative number of confirmed coronavirus cases in New Jersey was 987,005 with 1,392 total new PCR cases. There were 303 probable cases, bringing the overall total of antigen tests to 147,846. The total number of individual cases for the state is 1,134,851.
As for those that have passed, the state reported eight confirmed deaths, bringing that total to 24,429. The state listed probable deaths at 2,773, bringing the overall total to 27,202. State officials noted 19 deaths occurred in the last 24 hours of reporting that have not yet been lab confirmed.
For North Jersey counties on Sept. 20, Bergen had a total of 107 new confirmed cases and 22 new probable cases, Essex 92 new cases and 13 new probable case, Hudson 58 new cases and 13 new probable cases, Morris 113 new confirmed cases and 24 new probable cases, Passaic 68 new cases and eight new probable cases, Sussex 33 new cases and 16 new probable cases, and Warren 18 new cases and two new probable cases.
Of the total confirmed deaths in North Jersey, Essex County has the most with 2,802, followed by Bergen at 2,632, Hudson with 2,135, Passaic at 1,773, Morris at 1,009, Sussex at 249, and Warren County at 223.
In regards to probable deaths reported Sept. 20, Essex has 310, Bergen has 306, Morris has 264, Hudson has 222, Passaic has 206, Sussex has 68 and Warren has 26.
Of the 5,378,465 fully vaccinated individuals studied as of Sept. 7, 22,246 New Jersey residents have tested positive for COVID who were fully vaccinated, resulting in 457 COVID-related hospitalizations and 111 COVID-related deaths. All those are less than 1% in each category.
In the week of Aug. 30-Sept. 6, breakthroughs accounted for 23.2% of all new cases (2,982 of 12,827), 3.4% of new hospilizations (49 of 1,138), and none of the 78 deaths.
State Testing
As for the rate of transmission reported Sept. 20, it remained at 1.07 for a second straight day. The daily rate of infections from those tested Sept. 16 was 5.0%; by region, the rate was 3.9% in the North, 5.4% in the Central region and 6.6% in the South.
The state reported 1,137 patients were hospitalized; by region, there were 359 in the North, 368 in the Central and 410 in the South. Of those hospitalized, 258 are in intensive care units and 146 on ventilators. A total of 108 patients were discharged.
Officials have continually cited transmission rate, hospitalizations, intensive care units, ventilators and positivity rate as health data they rely on to track how the coronavirus is being contained in New Jersey, guiding them in determining when restrictions have to be tightened or lifted.
Long-term Care Facilities
Health officials noted 161 long-term care facilities are currently reporting at least one case of COVID-19, accounting for a total of 1,201 of the cases, broken down between 651 residents and 550 staff.
Cumulatively, 1,699 long-term care facilities reported a case infecting 33,526 residents and 22,884 staff, for a total of 56,410.
The state’s official death total will now be reported as those that are lab confirmed, sits at 8,506 on Sept. 20. The facilities are reporting to the state 7,941 residents deaths and 145 staff deaths.
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