Hoboken mayor mandates vaccines for city workers — or weekly testing, masks

The city of Hoboken will require all employees to either be fully vaccinated or undergo regular weekly COVID-19 testing, Mayor Ravi Bhalla announced Friday.

The mayor signed an executive order requiring municipal employees to be fully vaccinated by Aug. 9, or submit to regularly weekly tests and wear face coverings in both indoor settings and when interacting with the public, according to a news release.

“Given the recent increase of cases and the Delta variant in our region, the requirement we’re adopting today has become necessary to help keep our community safe,” Bhalla said in a prepared statement. “I ask all Hoboken businesses and companies to consider implementing similar measures to protect their own employees and members of the public.

“The vaccines have been proven to be highly effective, and I strongly encourage every person who has not yet done so to get vaccinated as soon as possible.”

The city health department will provide free vaccinations to municipal employees on Tuesday, it noted.