NEW JERSEY – Today, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that all New Jersey teachers will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or have to be tested regularly.
Murphy made his announcement after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer vaccine for those 16 and older.
The executive order states that all pre-k through 12th grade school personnel are required to be fully vaccinated by October 18 or undergo regular testing at a minimum of once to twice a week. This applies to all public, private and parochial preschool programs and elementary and secondary schools, as well as charter and renaissance schools.
The mandate also applies to all who are employed by a school, whether they work full time or part time.
The Garden State is one of the first in the nation to execute this type of mandate, joining others states like California and Connecticut.
“We have received multiple local reports that point to an overwhelming majority of our educational and classroom leaders having already taken their personal responsibility to their families, students and colleagues seriously and gotten vaccinated. I thank them for continuing to be models for their communities,” Murphy said. “We’re continuing to do all we can to ensure a safe start to the school year. Strong masking and vaccination protocols, in tandem with other safety measures, are our best consolidated tool for keeping our schools open for full-time, in-person instruction.”
This executive order also includes all state employees – those at state agencies, authorities and public colleges and universities, are required to complete a full vaccination course or go through regular testing.
Currently 10,932,679 doses have been administered in New Jersey and 5,491,608 individuals who live, work, or study in New Jersey are now fully vaccinated.
At this time, the state had reported 938,609 total positive PCR tests and 137,321 total positive antigen tests. The positivity rate is 5.13 percent and the statewide rate of transmission is currently 1.23.
