Thousands of state judiciary employees will be required either to submit proof of vaccination or undergo weekly testing for COVID-19 under a policy officials rolled out last week.
Massachusetts Trial Court Chief Justice Paula Carey and Court Administrator John Bello informed all Trial Court judges and staff on Aug. 12 that every worker must submit proof of at least a first dose for the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 1 and proof of a second dose by Oct. 6.
Any Trial Court worker who has not been vaccinated “regardless of the reason for their unvaccinated status” will be required to submit results from a COVID-19 test once per week, starting no more than 72 hours before their designated report-to-work date.
“The Trial Court strongly encourages all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and has determined that in the interest of overall health and safety we will implement mandatory vaccination reporting or a testing requirement in light of data on the contagiousness of the COVID-19 Delta and other emerging variants,” Carey and Bello wrote. “We believe that our strong commitment to follow medical and public health guidance since the beginning of the pandemic successfully curtailed the spread of the virus to date within the courts.”
A spokesperson said the policy affects 6,300 Trial Court employees, and a similar policy issued by the Appeals Court affects another 99 workers.
The Supreme Judicial Court, meanwhile, is assessing the vaccination status of its workforce before deciding whether to issue a mandate.
The list of public sector employees who face some kind of vaccination requirement has been growing in recent weeks, including those in the offices of Attorney General Maura Healey, Auditor Suzanne Bump, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and the city of Boston.
Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday announced that about 42,000 executive branch workers must be fully vaccinated or secure a valid exemption by Oct. 17 or face “disciplinary action, up to and including termination.”
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