All Montgomery Co. Courts, County Employees Must Be Vaccinated Or Tested

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — All county and courts employees in Montgomery County must receive the coronavirus vaccine, or else submit to regular testing, officials announced in an email sent out to workers this week.

The county cited the still high transmission rate of COVID-19 in the area and the more contagious delta variant in deciding to hand down this latest mitigation measure.

“Keeping people safe is at the heart of public service," Lee Soltysiak Montgomery County's Chief Operating Officer, said in an emailed statement provided to Patch. "We should leading the way in creating a safe and welcoming environment for our constituents and coworkers."

Vaccinations must be fully completed by Oct. 18, or else employees must undergo weekly testing. Medical and religious exemptions will be accepted for the vaccine, but those individuals still must be tested weekly.

Montgomery County's average positivity rate over the last 14 days remains high, at 5.68 percent, a slight increase over last week. The move comes several weeks after the county issued guidance that said all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, should wear masks indoors in the county. This "vax or test" mandate is similar to the one issued by Gov. Tom Wolf for state certain state employees, like corrections officers and state hospital healthcare workers.

The decision was, expectedly, met with controversy and anger from leaders on the right. Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale called the decision "tyrannical" and "outrageously un-American."

"The American people deserve the right to medical freedom without fear of being judged, shamed, ostracized, punished or forcibly subjected to compulsory testing," Gale said, arguing that he, as the lone Republican on the three-person Board of Commissioners, had been left out of the decision-making process.

"Too often, without my input or knowledge, the Democrat majority commissioners make major personnel and spending decisions that adversely impact our families and community," he added. "Such unilateral authoritarianism is not only a brazen power grab, but an insult to the voters who have twice elected me as their Republican representative on the Montgomery Board of Commissioners."

The county maintained the move was necessary to protect public health.

"We understand that this is a difficult decision for some, but please know this policy was put in place after lengthy discussion and consideration," the county's email to their employees read. "Serving the public and keeping them and our coworkers safe is our number one priority."