East Brunswick Requiring All Town Employees To Get COVID Vaccine

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — All employees of East Brunswick Township are now required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Mayor Brad Cohen told Patch.

Under the township’s new COVID-19 policy, employees have until Sep. 30 to provide proof of vaccination to the municipality's HR department.

“Let me be clear — this is a condition of employment,” Cohen said. “My job as mayor is to ensure the welfare, safety, and well-being of the people that live in town. I felt that the safest thing we can do is to ensure the safety of the visiting public coming into our buildings.”

The letter outlining the new policy was sent to over 200 employees of the township earlier this week. Employees have until Sep. 30 to provide the township with COVID-19 vaccine documentation. This information will be stored in a separate file in the HR department and will not contain any other medical information, Cohen said.

“We're not saying that you have to take the vaccine. But I don't have to have you put our public and other employees at risk, because of your decision,” said Cohen, who is also a physician.

Those who fail to provide proof of vaccination and who have not sought accommodation by the deadline will be deemed non-compliant. They will be prohibited from working in township buildings, will lose personal and vacation days, and will not be paid for their time off, Cohen said.

“It would be disappointing” to see employees leave due to noncompliance, the mayor added. “We worked really hard during this whole pandemic and recession, to make sure that we didn't let anybody go. But we have within our fingertips the ability to see this pandemic behind us. And I can't let the needs of a very few people supersede the needs of the many.”

Accommodations will be made for employees with valid medical reasons and religious exemptions. “Each one of those cases will be taken into consideration in its own merits individually,” Cohen said. These employees will then have to undergo regular COVID-19 testing.

And while the township vaccination rate is over 76 percent, the rapid spread of the delta variant is a cause of concern, said Cohen.

“We're dealing with a Delta variant that has caused an uptick in infections in New Jersey, and the CDC is now classified most of New Jersey as a substantially high-risk area,” Cohen said.

Health officials have warned of rising coronavirus case numbers in New Jersey, possibly driven by the contagious delta variant.

Read More Here: COVID Hospitalizations Spike In NJ As Delta Variant Spreads

Read More Here: Driven By Delta Variant, COVID Cases Quadruple In NJ

Read More Here: Middlesex County Coronavirus Transmission 'Substantial': CDC

Middlesex County has a "substantial" level of coronavirus transmission as of Aug. 3, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 60 new cases per 100,000 residents between July 27 and Aug. 2.

However, vaccine hesitancy was still a problem as many people have become “science doubters,” Cohen said.

“If people aren't certain or aren't sure what to believe from what they're reading; they should ask their doctor.”

“We're fortunate that we live in a country where we walk into any pharmacy and get a COVID vaccine. But now if people haven't gotten vaccinated, it's pretty much because they've decided that they don't want to be vaccinated, it's not that they can't get the vaccine,” said Cohen.

The Mayor said the policy introduced in East Brunswick is the “right one at the right time,” and that he is getting inquiries from other towns about it.

“As we learn more about the virus, we reserve the right to change, adapt or augment policies to fit what's going on,” he said.

“I hear the arguments about individual rights, and I get that, I respect that. But in this instance, the rights of the majority, the rights of those who are vaccinated, and the rights that balance in favor of the health of the community, supersedes an individual's rights.”

Thank you for reading. Have a correction or news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com

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