Ige: COVID-19 vaccines mandated for state, county employees

State and county employees will be required to vaccinate against COVID-19 or regularly test for the novel coronavirus, Gov. David Ige announced during a news conference today.

Under an emergency proclamation signed by the governor, all state and county employees must provide vaccination status to their department, office or agency by Aug. 16, Ige said. Those who cannot will be subject to regular COVID-19 testing.

If a free testing site is not used, Ige said employees must pay for any testing costs.

Those employees may also be subject to travel restrictions moving forward, he said.

A full story will appear in Friday’s edition of the Tribune-Herald.