Gov. Phil Murphy says he has no immediate plans to follow New York’s strict new mandate that all teachers and government workers get vaccinated against COVID-19 or be put on unpaid leave, with no option for weekly testing. Although Murphy wouldn’t rule it out, for now he said he’s comfortable with New Jersey’s plan to require unvaccinated workers to undergo testing. The problem is that many school districts are not yet able to comply.
Montclair has about 60% of its students signed up for weekly testing. Camden has been testing students since late September, although a small fraction are participating, and it kicked off its teacher testing this past Monday, as mandated by Murphy. In Newark, in-school teacher testing is stalled, although unvaccinated staff have had to test weekly since the start of the year. Murphy has granted an extension to 375 school districts whose testing programs are still not up and running.
