New Jersey Assembly Temporarily Changed Vaccine Mandate to Test Requirement After GOP Protest

Assembly speaker tested positive for COVID-19 two days after policy change

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie arrives to deliver the State of the State Address in the Assembly Chambers at the Statehouse on January 14, 2014 in Trenton, New Jersey. Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

New Jersey state assembly speaker announced on Jan. 7 that all assembly members and staffers will be required to present a negative COVID-19 test result regardless of their vaccination status to enter the legislative premises.

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, a Democrat, said in a statement that all who intend to access the Assembly Chambers of the New Jersey legislature on Jan. 10 and Jan. 11, including lawmakers, staffers, and the press, must show a negative COVID-19 rapid test taken after 12 p.m. on Saturday.