Covid cases are on the rise in New Jersey. Hospitalizations in the state are up 150% over the last month.
Governor Murphy has not issued a new mask mandate but in New York, Governor Hochul has. On Dec. 13 she ordered an indoor mask mandate for all public places that don’t have a vaccine mandate.
Dr. Robert Lahita of St. Joseph’s Health in New Jersey endorsed that move.
“I’m all for that at this time because of the rise of both the Delta, which is up 40%, and also the Omicron variant which in Britain is 44% of cases,” he said.
He predicted that by Mar. 1 Omicron will be the dominant variant in the US.
Meanwhile, New York City's vaccine mandate expanded to children ages 5 to 11 on Dec. 14. They now need to show proof they've received at least one dose of vaccine to enter most businesses -- including theaters, gyms and restaurants -- in the city.
Lahita said he thinks that’s excessive. “Children, first of all, as a rule, get very, very mild disease. They can certainly spread the disease but there’s no data on that,” he said.
How about a mandate for kids being vaccinated in school? “I think in schools the children should not be mandated to get the vaccine,” he said. “Teachers, on the other hand, should be because a teacher can get quite ill if a child comes in and gives her the virus.”
Lahita said he supports indoor mask mandates because of the numerous variants that have emerged, and said this will continue with only about 60% of the US population fully vaccinated.