PENNSYLVANIA, USA — The Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association (PSCOA), the union that represents corrections officers in Pennsylvania prisons, wants a state court to intervene over Governor Tom Wolf's recent mandate that they all get coronavirus vaccines or submit to weekly testing.
The six-page Commonwealth Court complaint requests that the court issue a preliminary injunction to end mandatory testing unless inmates, visitors, and outside vendors are also subject to the requirement.
Wolf announced a month ago that about 25,000 employees of Pennsylvania’s prisons and state health care and congregate care facilities would have to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 7 or take weekly tests for the virus.
The complaint states that the Commonwealth has failed to apply the "vaccinate or weekly test" rule equally to all individuals within Pennsylvania prisons.
"The imposition of the rules to either be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing, seemingly meant to protect all individuals within the congregate setting, is not being imposed upon inmates, outside contractors performing work within the worksites, or other visitors," the complaint reads. This, according to the complaint, increases the risk of contraction and spread of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania prisons.
On Sept. 9, PSCOA filed a statewide grievance over the Commonwealth's seeming failure to apply the "vaccinate or weekly test" rule equally, claiming that their inaction disregards the health and safety of those within Pennsylvania prisons.
The first meeting regarding this grievance will not occur until January 2022.