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New Jersey will still require masks indoors for people, even those fully vaccinated — despite the federal government easing its recommended restrictions on face coverings, the governor said Friday.
But that could change “within … weeks,” Gov. Phil Murphy added.
“With all respect to the CDC, we have made extraordinary progress,” Murphy said at a vaccination event with Whoopi Goldberg in East Orange, NJ. “We have gone in the past month of being the state with the highest per-capita hospitalizations and fatalities. It has dropped … over the past couple of weeks 78% on the key metrics.”
“And a big part of that reason is that folks are getting vaccinated and folks are doing the right thing,” Murphy said. “And, so as far as we can tell, and as much as we want to get there — and we will get there, as it relates to indoor masking, it’s only a matter of time — if you’re in a business and a public setting, we’re not there yet. We’re frankly not there yet.”
Fully vaccinated people will still be required to wear masks while indoors in New Jersey. APOn Thursday, the CDC said people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 do not have to wear masks indoors or practice social distancing.
But the good news for those who got both jabs in the Garden State: Masks will no longer be mandated outdoors, according to NJ.com.
The governor added, though, the state could relax the indoor regulations “within a matter of weeks.”
