The governor said the state is not at a place where it can afford to remove the mandate and that businesses cannot be forced into the position of policing usage and discerning vaccinated from unvaccinated customers, an especially daunting task given that "the majority of New Jerseyans are still unvaccinated."

Four alumni who currently work for Pfizer at its Pearl River, N.Y., facility experienced first-hand the excitement of the company’s announcement last fall that its mRNA vaccine was 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 infections. And not only do the graduates have their college and workplace in common, they also studied under Professor Paramjeet Bagga, a co-founder of the Bioinformatics program at the New Jersey public liberal arts school.

For the first time since its inception during last fall’s COVID surge, the New Jersey Hospital Associations color-coded guide shows that more visitors are allowed as cases of the virus decline.

MetLife Stadium may be able to seat a full house after the season starts on Sept. 9 if the federal Centers for Disease Control shrinks its social distancing recommendations and New Jersey follows suit, as the governor has said it would.

“This approval would be a big step for the health not just of our state broadly, but for our school communities,” Gov. Phil Murphy said during a daily COVID-19 press briefing.

Gov. Phil Murphy’s announcement that he was taking the “most aggressive steps” on reopening so far in the pandemic generated considerable excitement among business owners. But some groups question whether employers will be able to scale up to meet demand once the restrictions are eased. And public health experts worry that the state might be jumping the gun.

“We want to get New Jersey on the right track to a new normal and to do that we need to ensure that all New Jerseyans who want to receive the COVID-19 [vaccination] have access to it,” reads a statement from the sponsor of the legislation, Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-37th District.

"There is no doubt business people want to bring human interaction back to the workplace, so you can say that Gov. Murphy's lifting of restrictions has come at the right time,” said Tom Bracken, the organization's president and chief executive officer.

A new Monmouth University Poll shows 73% of New Jerseyans support the governor's recent policies regarding a return for outdoor businesses and gatherings, and 60% for indoor businesses.

“One of the most important steps we all can take to keep ourselves and each other safe is to get vaccinated. It is the responsible thing to do,” Stockton President Harvey Kesselman said. Thirteen of the state’s 28 colleges and universities are now requiring the inoculation.

Companies are turning their attention toward a duo of Biden-era COVID-relief programs: one for restaurants and another for theaters and other live performance venues.

The "Snax for Vax" healthy and nutritious giveaways are part of a White House partnership with retailers to incentivize Americans to get vaccinated; employees of the Secaucus-based company are also receiving paid time off for vaccinations.