RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s new chief justice says he’s asked Gov. Roy Cooper to consider getting COVID-19 vaccines more quickly to local court officials to meet a state constitutional requirement that “all courts shall be open.”
Speaking at Wednesday’s online installation ceremony for himself and two new justices, Chief Justice Paul Newby said “access to justice through the courts is not a luxury — it’s a mandate.”
Newby, a Republican who as an associate justice narrowly defeated then-Chief Justice Cheri Beasley in November, said he’s communicated with Cooper to “enhance the availability of the vaccine to the courthouse personnel who bravely and I even say courageously open the courts to fulfill our constitutional mandate.”
Under the current schedule from the state Department of Health and Human Services, essential workers in the legal field who aren’t at least 65 or who have high-risk medical conditions could have to wait for some time before having vaccine access. Data early this week showed North Carolina lagging most other states when it came to the rate of administering vaccine doses to individuals.
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