Washington State Establishes Vaccine Mandate for State and Healthcare Workers

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Monday that most state employees and all healthcare workers must be fully immunized against the coronavirus by October 18 or lose their jobs.

“We basically have a new virus in our throats,” Inslee said at a press conference, referring to the Delta variant.

Mr Inslee went beyond similar orders issued by other states by saying that refusal could result in dismissal. This would apply to workers in the private and public sector, including 60,000 state employees, as well as 14,000 who work for King County and 10,000 employees by Seattle. The policy also includes contractors who work in states, counties, and cities, such as construction sites, offices, and healthcare facilities.

“These workers live in every community in our state, working together and with the public every day to provide services,” said Mr. Inslee. “We have a duty to protect them from the virus, they have the right to be protected, and the communities they serve and in which they live also deserve protection. “

Dow Constantine, the King County Executive, and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan joined Mr. Inslee at the press conference to express their support.

Nominations will be considered for “legitimate medical reasons or sincere religious beliefs,” the governor said, but not for philosophical objections. Employees will not be able to give up the vaccine and get tested every week.

Mr Inslee’s office said the bill for coronavirus testing would run into millions of dollars if continued indefinitely and the testing option had not worked well in public facilities like prisons, private hospitals or nursing homes. “We are past the point where we can test our path to safety,” he said. “They don’t solve the problem.

Mr Inslee is using the emergency authority powers given to him during the coronavirus pandemic to issue the new order, his office said. The state allows healthcare workers in facilities and private establishments, and the governor has said the same enforcement mechanism kicks in when a medical error or the wrong medication is administered. “It is a rule of life and safety,” he added.

The directive does not extend to workers in higher education, public education or employees of the legislative and judicial powers.

“The reason we are in this situation today is that 30% of our eligible citizens, so far, have chosen not to be vaccinated,” Inslee said, stressing that he was not. not too late for residents and government employees. . But those on public wages “basically have to have their last vaccine by October 4,” he said.

The Seattle area had recorded most of the first deaths from Covid-19 in the country, as the virus raged through a nursing home in suburban Seattle in early 2020. By early 2021, per capita deaths in the region were lower than those of any other major metropolitan area.

In Washington state, daily new cases have climbed 154% in the past two weeks, according to a New York Times database, which also shows hospitalizations increased by 60% and deaths by 42%. during the same period. Seventy percent of Washington residents aged 18 and over are fully immunized, according to federal data. People under 12 are not eligible for the vaccine.

Health officials in California on Thursday ordered more than two million healthcare workers to be vaccinated, largely removing an option to allow unvaccinated workers to undergo regular testing instead.

President Biden also recently announced that federal workers would face restrictions and requirements, including testing, if they did not get vaccinated.

Other states and territories, including New York, Virginia and Puerto Rico, have followed suit, telling their employees to get vaccinated or have regular tests.