Effective May 28, New Jersey’s statewide indoor masking mandate will come to an end, but existing masking requirements will continue at public preschool program premises and elementary and secondary schools, Gov. Phil Murphy said May 24.
“By the way, this is for a simple reason. Children under the age of 12 are not yet eligible to be vaccinated,” Murphy explained during his media briefing. “While we’ve made very good progress with the 12-to-15-year cohort, they’ve only been eligible, I think, for less than two weeks. So for these younger populations, we’re just not there yet.”
The requirement for maintaining six feet of social distancing in all indoor and outdoor settings will also be lifted on May 28, added Murphy.