(Courtesy of The Jewish Home) The Jewish Home Family has made the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for all of its staff—a measure taken to ensure the safety of elders and staff alike.

“Today the Jewish Home Family took another significant step towards ensuring the health of our elders, our staff and our community,” President and CEO Carol Silver Elliott announced. “Although our staff vaccination rates are gratifyingly high—85% at the Jewish Home at Rockleigh and 88% at Jewish Home Assisted Living—we believe that 100% vaccination is vital. Our staff have been notified that there is a July 1 deadline for receiving at least the first dose of their vaccine, with a second dose required as well.”

Across the state of New Jersey, long-term care facilities are averaging just a 60% vaccination rate among staff, according to the New Jersey Department of Health as of May 25, 2021.

Jewish Home Family’s decision was not made lightly. “Our medical director and associate medical director have been involved in these discussions, and we have also surveyed our colleagues around the country,” Silver Elliott, who chairs the national elder care association of nonprofits LeadingAge, added. “While not all organizations that serve older adults have made this decision, we believe that it is the right one, perhaps the only one, for the Jewish Home Family.”

The nonprofit Jewish Home Family has been serving the community’s elders for over a century and operates the Jewish Home at Rockleigh, Jewish Home Assisted Living and Jewish Home at Home. For more information, email [email protected].