Police barricades stand outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on October 20, 2020.
Stefani Reynolds | Getty Images
All nine Supreme Court justices have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, a spokesman confirmed to NBC News on Friday.
The Supreme Court has been “in the process” of getting vaccines against the deadly virus since January, a spokesman at the time said.
Outlets reported in mid-January that Chief Justice John Roberts had received both doses of the vaccine from Pfizer / BioNTech, the first to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use.
The age of the nine judges is more than three decades. The newest Associate Justice, Amy Coney Barrett, is also the youngest at 49. the oldest, Stephen Breyer, is 82 years old.
The health risks from Covid-19 infection are increasing exponentially in older age groups. The death rate for people aged 65 to 74 years is 1,100 times higher than for people aged 5 to 17, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Four judges – Roberts, Sonia Sotomayor, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas – are between 65 and 74 years old.
The pandemic caused judges, like millions of others, to take unprecedented steps to reduce the risk of infection. Last spring, the Supreme Court held an oral conference call for the first time in its history.
