The state of New Jersey is now requiring long-term care workers and employees in other congregate settings to be fully-vaccinated against COVID-19, while Montana officials have forbidden operators from imposing a vaccine mandate.
Gov. Phil Murphy (D) announced New Jersey’s new guidance on Monday.
The mandate applies to state-owned and private nursing homes and long-term care facilities. It requires workers to meet the requirement by Sept. 7. If they don’t get vaccinated, they will be subject to testing once or twice a week.
State health officials reported an average of 71% of nursing home employees are vaccinated against COVID-19, which is much higher than the current national rate of 58.6%. The state’s overall goal is to reach a vaccination rate of 80% to 85% among its entire population due to the growing spread of the delta variant.
“This mandate is the floor,” Murphy said. “If we do not see significant increases in vaccination rates among employees in these settings, we are ready and willing to require all staff (in other settings) to be vaccinated as a condition of their employment.”
Montana outlaws mandates
Montana state health officials released guidance this week to clarify to nursing homes and long-term care facilities that they can’t require employees or residents to be vaccinated against the disease due to a new law, according to a report by the Independent Record.
The legislation, H.B. 702, went into effect in July and bans government entities and most businesses from making COVID-19 vaccination a condition of employment or to access a business.
Additionally, the state’s Department of Health and Human Services in a late July memo noted that current federal regulations “strongly encourage COVID-19 vaccination of all residents and staff, but do not mandate it for any party.”
The memo also stated that providers are still required “to promote and provide vaccination for all residents and staff, encourage vaccination among new admissions, maintain a record of the vaccination status of patients/residents and staff, and encourage vaccination of all visitors,” according to the local report.
