NJ Gov. Candidate Against Vaccine Passports, Rutgers' Mandate

This week Jack Ciattarelli, the presumptive Republican nominee for New Jersey governor, came out forcefully against not only vaccine passports, but also Rutgers' decision to require students get the coronavirus vaccine if they want to return to campus this fall.

This puts him at odd with Gov. Phil Murphy, who has said he supports both vaccine passports and the Rutgers vaccine mandate. Murphy is seeking re-election this November, and Ciattarelli is the front-runner GOP candidate who will challenge him. The Republican primary is in June.

"The idea that Americans would be forced to carry around a personal health record to attend a ballgame, see a concert, or go out to dinner is simply wrong," said Ciatterelli in a Facebook post. "Governor Murphy is wrong for even having considered it."

Ciattarelli said Rutgers should not be requiring the vaccine for young people when older New Jersey residents are still struggling to get their shots.

"As soon as I'm eligible, I plan to be vaccinated and believe others should too," wrote Ciattarelli Wednesday in a post on his Facebook page. "Enacting a blanket mandate, however, especially for young people, is not something I support. As I travel the state, complaints from our elderly population and their loved ones are both constant and infuriating. Under no circumstances should we be creating a situation where those who are most at-risk are literally competing with healthy young people for a vaccine."

"That is why Governor Murphy should discourage our public and private colleges and universities from mandating vaccinations for all students," he continued. "At the very least, he should do so until such time as the state can guarantee that every single New Jerseyan in higher-risk categories has immediate access to a vaccine should they choose to get one. Governor Murphy needs to pledge today that he will not support or otherwise encourage mandatory vaccinations for K-12 students as a condition of their return to in-person learning either this spring or next September."

No coronavirus vaccine has been approved by the FDA for school-aged children, although Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are all currently testing their coronavirus vaccine on children.

On March 25, Rutgers announced it will be requiring all undergraduate and graduate students who wish to return to in-person classes or dorms show proof they got the vaccine. Rutgers is not requiring its professors be vaccinated.

This week, Gov. Murphy said he was "very impressed" with Rutgers' decision, but held off on saying he would require other New Jersey colleges and universities to follow.

"I was very impressed by Rutgers' decision under (Rutgers) President Holloway," said Murphy on Monday, when asked by a reporter at his weekly press conference. "We just have to think it through to make sure there are no unintended consequences, no equity issues. So I'm not sure I'm in the position of mandating it that other colleges or universities have to do it. I think the more people who are vaccinated, the better off we will be."

In that same Facebook post, Ciatterelli also fought the idea of a "vaccine passport," something that is already being experimented in New York state through a partnership with IBM.

"Lastly, the idea that Americans would be forced to carry around a personal health record – or worse have it loaded onto their smartphone – to attend a ballgame, see a concert, or go out to dinner is simply wrong," said Ciatterelli. "Governor Murphy is wrong for even having considered it. 'Vaccine passports' violate medical privacy and state government should not dictate who you can see and where you can go based on having one."

On March 19, Murphy told a CNBC reporter on Squawk Box: "Don't get rid of the (vaccine) card, that's likely to be something valuable. Laminate it and put it in your wallet ... There are lots of different potential uses for that, whether it's going to a sporting event, getting on a plane, etc. So hold onto it and we will first and foremost take our guidance from the CDC."

In that same interview, Murphy said a vaccine passport was "under consideration" by state health officials.

However, a few days later, Murphy clarified his position on vaccine passports, saying "I was asked about the vaccination passport, if I was open-minded to it at one point. I said 'Yeah, that's something that I'd be open minded to.' I don't want anyone to think that we're up here pounding the table, to think that this is something we unquestionably support. The CDC is the place that that discussion and that guidance has to come from."

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in a press release his state partnered with IBM to test the "Excelsior Pass," a smartphone app that shows one has been vaccinated or recently tested negative for COVID. It was first tested Feb. 27, to get into a Brooklyn Nets game at the Barclays Center. The app was tested a second time during the New York Rangers game on March 2 at Madison Square Garden. The Biden administration is also working with private companies to develop similar vaccine passports.

Vaccine passports have been met with push-back nationwide, including most recently from the ACLU, who said they have privacy concerns.

Earlier this week, Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso, a Republican from Monmouth County, said she will introduce legislation preventing Rutgers from carrying out its mandate. DiMaso told Patch she is looking for lawmakers to co-sponsor the bill.

"It's not that I don't believe in the vaccine; I got the vaccine," she said. "I just don't believe we should mandate people to get it, especially kids ... It should be a decision made between you and your physician and whatever you decide is right for you. Not the government deciding."

Ciattarelli is a former state Assemblyman from Hillsborough. He unsuccessfully ran against former Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno in the New Jersey governor's race Republican primary in 2017 and she went on to lose to Murphy.

Keep reading: Gov. Murphy Clarifies His Stance On NJ COVID 'Vaccine Passports' (March 22)

Rutgers Will Require COVID-19 Vaccines For All Students (March 25)

GOP Lawmaker Said She Plans To Fight Rutgers' Vaccine Mandate (March 29)

Be the first to know what's happening in your town and area. Sign up to get Patch emails and don't miss a minute of local and state news: https://patch.com/subscribe