COVID Vaccine Requirement for NJ Healthcare Workers
NJ State Mandate of COVID-19 Vaccine for Healthcare Workers
The Governor issued a mandate for healthcare workers in NJ to be vaccinated for COVID-19 or be subject to weekly testing. This applies to all workers in public and private health care facilities and certain high-risk congregate settings. At Inspira this includes all employees, contracted staff, residents, students, volunteers and vendors. This requirement is intended to help increase protection against the spread of COVID-19, including the highly transmissible Delta variant, to vulnerable populations who have been hardest hit during the pandemic.
As a union, we have the right to bargain over the effects of such changes. We met with hospital leadership today to discuss their policy as it applies to the state mandate.
Here are your options:
- Get vaccinated by October 15th. Employee Health will provide vaccines free of charge to all staff. You will need to submit proof of vaccination to Employee Health if you receive it through another entity outside of Inspira.
- Fill out an exemption form if you do not want to get vaccinated. Exemptions may be granted for medical, religious and deeply held personal belief reasons. Personal belief exemptions are subject to change when Emergency Use Authorization is lifted by the FDA. You can find the forms on the Inspira intranet or from Employee Health and Human Resources. The deadline to submit for an exemption is August 31st. Employees should know within two weeks if they have been granted an exemption. The union reserves the right to challenge anyone that is denied one.
- You will be required to get tested weekly if you are granted an exemption. The details of the testing protocols are still being worked out. We are pushing for testing to be as easy as possible for employees so you do not have to come in on your day off to adhere to the policy/state mandate.
This is now a requirement for all NJ private and public healthcare facilities and Inspira’s policy reflects the new state mandate. We will continue to bargain over the effects of any changes as we get closer to the deadlines outlined above and new procedures emerge that affect employees.