(Bloomberg) -- People who work in New Jersey state hospitals, nursing homes and jails must be vaccinated or face mandatory Covid-19 testing, Governor Phil Murphy announced.

Full compliance is required by Sept. 7, Murphy said Monday at a press briefing. Private employers are encouraged to implement tougher standards, he said.

“The delta variant is now working its way across our state,” Murphy said.

New Jersey is among the most shot-compliant U.S. states, having beaten its own June 30 deadline for 70% of the eligible population to be fully vaccinated. Still, the delta variant is rising. As of July 31, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classified all but one of New Jersey’s 21 counties as having high or substantial transmission rates. The week prior, 11 counties fell into those groups.

The 540 people hospitalized for Covid-19 in New Jersey on Sunday represented a 29% increase over a week and 76% over a month. By comparison, 2,294 patients were hospitalized April 1. New Jersey health officials say that since mid-January, unvaccinated people have accounted for 99% of Covid-19 hospitalizations.

The rule comes a week after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs put the order in place for its 380,000-employee health system. The American Medical Association on July 21 strongly recommended such a policy nationally in a joint statement with about 50 other groups representing nurses, dentists, surgeons and others in health care.

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