Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order Wednesday updating and clarifying timelines for requiring covered workers at health care facilities and high-risk gathering places to be up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccinations, which includes having received a booster shot. The order aligns state timelines with updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations on optimal intervals between first and second doses, in addition to other updates.
“Over the course of our response to COVID-19, we have always followed the science in our decision-making, and this is no different,” Governor Murphy said. “This executive order ensures that our COVID-19 vaccination requirements for covered workers in high-risk medical and congregate settings can keep themselves and those they care for safe.”
The order clarifies that health care facilities subject to the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) rule must have a policy in place requiring their covered workers to complete their primary COVID-19 vaccination series within the deadlines established in the guidance for the CMS federal rule. Additionally, it modifies the timeframe within which covered health care facility workers must get their booster dose to April 11, 2022, or within three weeks after they meet the requirement.
It also changes the deadline by which high-risk group care settings must require their covered workers to submit proof that they are up-to-date on their vaccinations by May 11, 2022, including any boosters for which they qualify. Workers who qualify for a booster shot after the deadline will need to submit proof of their booster shot within three weeks of qualifying.
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