Murphy Delays Booster Deadline For Hospital Staff, Prison Guards

NEW JERSEY — On Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced he is pushing back his deadlines for when all healthcare workers, nursing home staff and prison guards get a coronavirus vaccine booster shot.

Previously, Murphy mandated all healthcare workers in the state get the booster by Tuesday of this week, March 1. Any healthcare worker —from hospital executives to surgeons, doctors, nurses and all hospital staff — would risk being fired if they did not do so, said the governor.

Now on Wednesday, Murphy issued Executive Order No. 290, which gives healthcare workers until April 11 to get the booster.

This comes just two days after the New Jersey Hospital Association on Monday asked Murphy for an extension of the deadline, saying that many healthcare workers in the state had not received a booster shot by the March 1 deadline. Once the deadline passes, workers lose the choice to opt out of the requirement by undergoing weekly testing.

According to NJ.com, the NJ Hospital Association said that 90 percent of healthcare workers in New Jersey received the first round of vaccine shots.

But thousands of healthcare workers have not gotten the booster. Exactly how many is unknown.

About 20 percent of Hackensack Meridian's 36,000 employees have not yet received a booster, NorthJersey.com reported. Other hospital systems across the state queried by the newspaper apparently did not want to divulge how many — or how few — employees had been "boosted."

Only about 51 percent of eligible New Jersey residents got a booster shot, Murphy revealed last week.

The New Jersey Hospital Association requested a 90-day extension to Murphy's March 1 deadline.

Michael Zhadanovsky, a spokesman for Gov. Murphy did not answer when asked if Murphy pushed back the deadline because of Monday's request from the Hospital Association.

The NJ Hospital Association also told NJ.com that hospitals are reporting a skyrocketing nursing shortage and having to bring in temporary nurses from out of state.

Hackensack Meridian also just announced this week they would "defer" any disciplinary action until June 1 for staffers without a booster.

Wednesday's latest executive order from the governor also pushed back the deadline for nursing home workers and prison guards to get a booster. In January, Murphy said those groups had to get the booster shot by March 30.

Now on Wednesday, he gave them until May 11.

The union representing correctional officers sued the governor over the booster shot mandate, and their case went to the New Jersey Supreme Court, which ruled against the union. About 41 percent of New Jersey's Department of Corrections employees are fully vaccinated, according to NorthJersey.com.

The state of New Jersey does not require the coronavirus vaccine for prisoners, only the guards.

According to state Dept. of Health data, about 91 percent of nursing home staff are fully vaccinated and 61 percent have received a booster.

In a press release, the governor said pushing the deadline back "aligns state timelines with updated CDC recommendations."

“Over the course of our COVID-19 response, we have always followed the science in decision-making, and this is no different,” said Murphy on Wednesday. “This executive order ensures that our COVID-19 vaccination requirements for covered workers in medical and high-risk congregate settings are able to properly keep themselves and those whom they care for safe.”

COVID-19 vaccine exemptions are only available for medical reasons or "deeply held" religious beliefs, Murphy said in January.

"Anyone found in non-compliance will be subject to their workplace's disciplinary process — up to and including termination of employment," Murphy said at the time.

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