Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for New Jersey governor, is scheduled to be honored at an event featuring an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist on Thursday, days after he appeared to moderate his tone on vaccines in the first gubernatorial debate.
His presence is now uncertain, according to a source familiar with the matter, but his face is still plastered on online flyers alongside anti-vaccine activists for the NJ Public Health Innovation PAC Gala at The Gramercy at Lakeside Manor in Hazlet.
The candidate is advertised as a “distinguished guest” and the keynote speaker is Sherri Tenpenny, a doctor known nationally for peddling conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccine.
“His presence at this year’s Gala underscores the growing recognition that health freedom, informed consent, and parental rights must be front and center in New Jersey’s future,” NJPHI PAC posted on Facebook about Ciattarelli. “As our state heads into a pivotal election, Jack’s participation is a powerful signal that these issues matter at the highest levels of leadership.”
Ciattarelli has appealed to so-called medical freedom and parental rights groups who oppose vaccine requirements for students going to public school. He has maintained on his campaign website that he “will oppose a one-size-fits-all vaccination schedule” that he wants to make it easier for parents to opt their kids out of vaccinations for school through a philosophical exemption (there’s currently a religious exemption in the state).
But Ciattarelli appeared to moderate his tone on the issue on Sunday night while debating U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee.
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At the debate, moderator Micah Rasmussen cited measles deaths across the country and noted how Ocean County is now below the vaccine rate to maintain herd immunity for the disease.
“Should New Jersey parents be worried?” Rasmussen asked the candidates.
Ciattarelli said he supports “the vaccine schedule with regard to measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, and polio.”
“We’ve got to get above the threshold for herd immunity to keep our communities safe,” he said. “The obligation of any governor on Day One after they take their oath of office is the public health and safety.”
When asked after the debate to clarify whether his position against a vaccine schedule has changed, Ciattarelli said that “children have to be vaccinated for things like measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and chicken pox.” He also reiterated that a community falling below herd immunity is dangerous and that his job would be to “protect the public health and safety.”
Ciattarelli did not mention the religious or philosophical exemptions in his answers.
Sherrill argued that children are dying of curable diseases “because we are not appropriately following medical research vaccine protocol” and said she will be part of the new Northeast Public Health Collaborative, in which governors from states including New Jersey and Pennsylvania are working together on public health policy in light of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump’s secretary of health and human services, dismantling federal vaccine recommendations.
Bill Spadea, a vocal vaccine skeptic who ran against Ciattarelli in the GOP primary, argued that Ciattarelli and Sherrill showed “no difference” in their views on “medical freedom” during the debate.
Shawn Hyland, the director of advocacy for the NJ Family Policy Center, a Christian group aligned with the “parental rights” movement that endorsed Ciattarelli, said Ciattarelli’s answer sparked some discussion among advocates.
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Hyland, who is leading an opening prayer at the gala, interpreted Ciattarelli’s answer as supporting the current vaccine schedule but said the candidate “never mentioned or even implied in any way that he would force people to get vaccinated if they had a certain religious reason of why they should be exempted from it.”
Ciattarelli’s presence at the gala is advertised alongside Tenpenny and Jamel Holley, Leah Wilson, and Mary Holland.
Tenpenny, the keynote speaker, told legislators in Ohio in 2021 that the COVID-19 vaccine could make people magnetic and suggested that vaccines interact with 5G towers – both unfounded claims. She was listed as one of 12 anti-vaccine activists responsible for almost two-thirds of anti-vaccine content on social media by the Center for Countering Digital Hate that year, calling them the Disinformation Dozen.
She sold online education courses that said social distancing had no use in a pandemic and that mask-wearing policies are a type of “mind control,” Business Insider reported.
Holland, CEO of Kennedy’s nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, claimed that mumps, measles, and rubella are not particularly dangerous to children, contrary to extensive medical evidence, in an interview with Politico. On Bannon’s War Room, Holland compared mandated vaccines to slavery. The group hosting the gala calls her a “courageous health freedom leader.”
Wilson, a lawyer, became an outspoken advocate against vaccine mandates after she was told she could not foster children since her biological children were not vaccinated. The PAC calls her a “Health Freedom Warrior.”
Holley, a former Democratic Assembly member from Union County, was described by Politico in 2020 as “New Jersey Democrats‘ most high profile anti-vaccination activist.” The gala organization calls him “a powerful voice for the MAHA movement.” Holley, a Kennedy advisor, alienated Democratic allies with his anti-vaccination rhetoric surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sherrill said in a statement that she is “appalled that Jack is taking his cues from fringe activists, conspiracy theorists, and the likes of Donald Trump and RFK, Jr. whose extreme policies will result in reduced access to vaccines and more of our children catching preventable illnesses.”
“People are getting sick because of politicians like Jack who campaign with anti-vaxxers and spread dangerous lies about our public health, and it’s clear we can’t trust him to keep our kids safe and healthy,” she added.
In a statement, Ciattarelli spokesperson Eric Arpert asserted that the GOP nominee’s “position has been consistent” on vaccines.
“As Governor, he will oppose a one-size-fits-all vaccination schedule, support medical and religious exemptions for vaccines, and create a parental rights ombudsman in state government to give parents more of a voice on key issues, including those seeking a philosophical vaccine exemption,” Arpert said.
“At the same time, Jack personally supports individuals getting vaccinated and appreciates the important role vaccines play in protecting the public, he added.
Ciattarelli has been open about his own decision to get vaccinated – even sending out photos of himself getting his COVID-19 vaccine during his 2021 campaign for governor – but has argued that the “my body, my choice” slogan should apply to vaccines. (The COVID-19 vaccine is not required as part of the vaccine schedule.)
The subject of vaccines is becoming increasingly important for state leaders while the federal government changes long held stances on vaccinations and shifts under the guidance of Kennedy who has leaned on unsubstantiated and debunked theories.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, both Democrats, have each recently established statewide guidelines that break with new federal policy on COVID-19 and Tylenol. Trump claimed without definitive scientific proof that using the pain reliever during pregnancy is dangerous, which scientists have debunked.
Shapiro this week provided vaccine guidance that breaks with the new federal guidance and also said that private insurers will continue to cover all of the vaccines covered under the 2024 recommendations.