All New Jersey state workers will be required to be vaccinated for the coronavirus or undergo regular testing, Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Monday.
The governor made the announcement the same day he said teachers and school employees must be vaccinated or get tested regularly. The deadline for the mandate to go into effect is Oct. 18.
It affects all state workers, Murphy said, including “those at all state agencies, authorities, and public colleges and universities — whether they be full- or part-time, or contract employees.”
People who opt out of getting vaccinated will be tested once to twice weekly “at minimum,” the governor said.
New Jersey already requires all workers in hospitals, long-term care centers, prisons, and a number of other state and private health-care facilities and high-risk congregate settings to be fully vaccinated or be subject to repeated testing.
Those places have until Sept. 7 to comply with the program, Murphy said when he announced the mandate earlier in the month.