Some New York court staffers are eligible for COVID vaccines, others are not
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A court officer administers a temperature check. Court officers are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. Judges are not. Photo courtesy of OCA
By David Brand
Five employees across four Queens courthouses tested positive for COVID-19 Monday and Tuesday, with one sitting inside the Jamaica civil courthouse a day before reporting their test result.
Overall, 15 Queens court employees have come down with COVID in 2021 with the coronavirus continuing to surge across New York City.
But as the state expands vaccine eligibility to more essential employees, not every court system staffer has been allowed access to the potentially life-saving doses.
New rules issued by the state Health Department Tuesday explicitly allow court officers to get the vaccine, but the eligibility of other employees — like clerks, court attorneys, court reporters or judges — remains open to interpretation.
In a memo to staff Tuesday, Chief Administrative Judge Lawrence Marks said the Office of Court Administration believes all non-judicial staff can get the vaccine based on vague phrasing in the state guidelines that make “Other Sworn and Civilian Personnel” and “Support or Civilian Staff” eligible.
“This means that court employees who are interested in receiving the vaccine should schedule an appointment to do so on the State’s or New York City’s vaccination website,” Marks wrote in the memo shared with the Eagle.
Notably missing from that interpretation: judges.
OCA spokesperson Lucian Chalfen said court leaders “are continuing to strongly advocate that the eligibility guidelines be immediately interpreted or expanded to include” judges and justices.
Judges over age 65 already qualify under Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, he noted.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Carmen Velasquez, president-elect of an association that represents New York judges, said she has received calls from judges across the state asking when they can receive their vaccines.
“We are still trying to figure out what it is the state is actually saying and it’s just amazing that the judges have not been considered,” Velasquez said. “We were told we were first responders and we’ve been going through everything that has been asked of us.”
Three other judges who spoke with the Eagle said they are troubled about the rules that leave them out. “We are all confused,” said one justice.
The state Health Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Throughout the pandemic, hundreds of people working in the courts have tested positive for COVID-19, according to reports published daily by OCA.
About 200 New York City court officers have tested positive for COVID-19 since March, New York State Court Officers Association President Dennis Quirk said. Three union members have died and a Brooklyn Family Court officer is currently on a ventilator in critical condition, he said.
Three judges across the state have also died of COVID-19 since a Queens judge became the first to report a positive test in March.
Quirk said it doesn’t make sense for the state to administer vaccines to some court employees and not others.
“I have a court officer with MS and he can’t get the shot, but you’re making him work with someone who could infect him,” Quirk said.
He specifically said judges should be made eligible for the vaccine.
“We have judges who are coming to work everyday. We can’t have a court if we don’t have the judge,” he added.
The rules also exclude others who work in the courts every day, including district attorney staff and public defenders.
Several prosecutors and other employees in the Queens District Attorney’s Office have gotten sick with COVID-19 during the past several months.
Dozens of members of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys have become dangerously ill, too, said union head Jared Trujillo. At least one paralegal has died.
“It’s ridiculous that people who are public-facing haven’t been prioritized, we have a lot of members going into courts,” said Association of Legal Aid Attorneys President Jared Trujillo. “It really shows a lack of respect for the work we do, especially since so many people have been sick.”
