Vaccine Mandate Could Impact Handful Of St. Joseph's Employees

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — Several St. Joseph's Health employees will have decisions to make before the deadline for New Jersey health care employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

About 99 percent of the health care provider's employees have received both doses of the vaccine or have a medical or religious exemption, according to Kristen M. Agnes, a St. Joseph's Health spokesperson. But St. Joseph's Health, which has hospitals in Wayne and Paterson, has a "small amount of individuals" — fewer than 50 employees — who aren't vaccinated or exempted, Agnes says.

"We are communicating directly with them to discuss their options and address their concerns," Agnes told Patch.

But time is ticking, as New Jersey health care employees without medical or religious exemptions have until Thursday to get their first dose of the vaccine.

Unvaccinated St. Joseph's employees, including those with exemptions, get tested weekly for COVID-19.

Gov. Phil Murphy issued an executive order Wednesday that will require employees in health care settings or "high-risk congregate" environments to receive COVID-19 vaccinations and booster shots. Workers in those settings will soon lose the choice to opt out of the requirement by undergoing weekly testing.

Health care workers, without exemptions, who remain unvaccinated have until Thursday to get their first dose and must complete their primary vaccination series by Feb. 28. Read more: NJ Mandates COVID Vaccine For Health Care, Long-Term Care Workers

Those eligible for a booster shot and haven't received it yet have until the following deadlines to get it: Feb. 28 for health care workers and March 30 for employees in congregate settings. Workers who will become booster-eligible after the cutoffs will have to receive the shot within their first three weeks of booster eligibility.

More than half of St. Joseph's Health employees have received a COVID-19 booster shot, and that number increases weekly, Agnes said.

The health care provider runs the St. Joseph's Wayne Medical Center, St. Joseph's University Medical Center in Paterson, St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Paterson and St. Joseph's Healthcare and Rehab Center in Cedar Grove.

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