Maplewood TC votes to mandate vaccines for all township employees

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The Maplewood Township Committee decided that all municipal employees must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 7, when it approved a mandate at its Oct. 19 meeting. The resolution was passed with a vote of 4-0; Committeeman Greg Lembrich was absent. According to township administrator Jerry Giaimis, the committee discussed a policy of either requiring employees to be vaccinated or tested on a weekly basis several weeks ago, but the policy has been tough to implement. A number of employees have either not been vaccinated or have chosen not to disclose their status.

“It was very early on in these types of rules and regulations,” Giaimis said at the meeting about the committee’s previous discussions regarding a mandate. “There have been challenges to that policy and the implementation, especially when you have at least 25 percent of our municipal staff, including first responders, who either opt not to disclose their status or are unvaccinated. It could be one or the other. The challenge is getting 25 municipal staff tested on a weekly basis when you’re dealing with shift work and all different schedules.”

Giaimis said that members of the Maplewood Police Department, Maplewood Fire Department and Department of Public Works have had to quarantine after being exposed to the coronavirus.

“It’s not just an administrative issue that’s causing problems, it’s a science issue,” he said. “It’s a testing issue. The unvaccinated members of our staff are not protected simply because they’re being tested. It is a public safety issue for the people that we interact with. Our responders interact with the most vulnerable residents in our community, and they’re exposed to more people than anybody else. As a public sector organization, we have a responsibility to not just prevent people from catching it, but to prevent people from spreading it to our residents.”

Giaimis worked with the town’s labor counsel on the policy and described it as “workable and science based.” The resolution requires employees to provide proof of getting at least the first shot by Nov. 7 and, four weeks later, proof of the second shot, if required by that vaccine brand.

Committeewoman Nancy Adams said at the meeting that she completely agrees with implementing a mandate.

“I think we need to be clear, and our employees need to try to understand, that this is a global, public pandemic,” she said. “There has been misinformation out there, as we all know. Those countries that have strict guidelines and have been doing mandatory vaccinations are doing much better and getting back to the normal world as we knew it before COVID. This is not anything that’s punishing anybody or forcing anybody to do anything against their rights. This is a policy that we really need to have people follow to keep everyone safe.”

Not knowing who could have a compromised immune system or other underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk for contracting COVID-19 is one of the reasons Adams said the mandate is necessary in Maplewood.

“As you go about your day-to-day business, you have no idea who has compromised conditions or who is privately compromised so that their immune system can’t fight it,” she said. “People like that are at risk if healthy people are not vaccinated. I’d encourage all our employees and frankly, everybody, to get vaccinated for the good of all of us.”

Committeeman Vic DeLuca said residents should expect to be safe when they are interacting with public employees, whether they are in a public building or interacting with a first responder.

“There has to be an expectation by the public that it’s safe when they come into our buildings or they interact with our employees,” DeLuca said. “The way for it to be safe is for everyone to get vaccinated. It is not a matter of individual choice here; it’s a matter of public safety and public health. We’re acting in the interest of all of our residents and all of our employees.”

MPD Officer Chian Weekes-Rivera said during the public comment portion of the meeting that she opposes the vaccine mandate, saying people who have been vaccinated can still spread the virus.

“I have medical reasons as well as religious reasons why I don’t want to be vaccinated,” she said. “You guys are forcing people to choose to feed their families versus being smart and healthy and just unvaccinated. We should have autonomy about what to do with our bodies.”

Deputy Mayor Dean Dafis said that he had a breakthrough case of COVID-19, even though he is fully vaccinated, and nevertheless encouraged employees and members of the rest of the public to get vaccinated.

“I was significantly sick,” he said at the meeting. “I can’t imagine what it would have been like had I not been fully vaccinated. Certainly, with some health issues in my family, I would have ended up in the hospital. The only reason we think mandating it is important is because it’s a public health emergency. You don’t know if you are infecting someone else by accident. You may get through it just fine yourself, but that somebody else may be an elderly person or a health-compromised person who is not going to get through it like you did.”

  COVID-19, FEATURED, Maplewood DPW, Maplewood Fire Department, Maplewood Police Department, Maplewood Township Committee