Philadelphia court employees will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of continued employment; they must be vaccinated, or offer proof of a medical exception, by November 15, 2021, the First Judicial District (FJD) has announced. Moreover, the FJD will review requests for religious exemptions on a case-by-case basis.

Employees’ vaccinations statuses will remain confidential. As independently elected government officials, judges are not subject to court policies and procedures, but they have actively participated in the FJD’s ongoing vaccination efforts.

This announcement by the Philadelphia court system is an effort to provide further protection to its workforce and court users. It follows President Joe Biden’s mandated vaccination or consistent COVID-19 testing for all federal employees and businesses with at least 100 employees.