During a press conference in Seattle on Monday, Aug. 9, Gov. Jay Inslee announced a requirement for most state workers, and on-site contractors and volunteers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. State employees and workers in private health care and long-term care settings will have until Oct. 18, 2021, to be fully vaccinated.
According to a news release on the governor’s website, the requirement applies to state workers, regardless of teleworking status. This applies to executive cabinet agencies, but the governor encouraged all others such as higher education, local governments, the legislative branch, other statewide elected officials and organizations in the private sector to do the same.
“It is the mission of public servants and those providing health care to serve our fellow Washingtonians. These workers live in every community in our state, working together and with the public every day to deliver services,” Inslee said during the press conference. “We have a duty to protect them from the virus, they have the right to be protected, and the communities they serve and live in deserve protection as well.”
The governor made the announcement at a press conference on Monday at Kaiser Permanente in Seattle. He was joined by Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, King County Executive Dow Constantine, Kaiser Permanente Washington President Susan Mullaney, Washington State Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah, and Seattle-King County Public Health Officer Dr. Jeffrey Duchin.
The announcement comes as Washington is experiencing a severe increase in COVID cases and hospitalizations in every county, due to the Delta variant, with the overwhelming majority of cases and hospitalizations being among unvaccinated Washingtonians.
Prior to the governor’s announcement, Kaiser Permanente WA mandated that it would be requiring all its employees to be vaccinated. Last week, Vancouver Clinic also announced that they will require all employees to be vaccinated.
“The delta variant has placed our patients, clinicians, staff and families at increased risk,” said Chief Medical Officer Alfred Seekamp, MD, in an Aug. 5 news release. “We know the best protection against the delta variant is vaccination and masks. As a health care organization owned and led by physicians, we have a core responsibility to protect our patients, our families and one another.”
Vancouver Clinic joins a growing list of health care partners in Vancouver and Portland that require all employees be vaccinated. The rapid spread of new COVID-19 variants is a public health emergency that has changed circumstances dramatically, according to the Vancouver Clinic’s news release. The highly contagious Delta variant has increased COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Its “viral load” is as much as 1,000 times higher than prior variants and, as a result, it could be at least twice as transmissible.
Eighty percent of Vancouver Clinic’s employees are already fully vaccinated. Those not vaccinated will have until Sept. 15 to comply with the new policy, which is a condition of employment.
“We value each of our employees and this decision was carefully considered,” Seekamp said, in the news release. “We believe this is the right thing to do for the health and safety of employees, our patients and our community.”
This new requirement issued by Inslee includes well-defined exemptions to the vaccine. Individuals with legitimate medical reasons or sincerely held religious reasons will be exempt. The exemptions do not include personal or philosophical objections.
To keep staff, families and communities safe, there will be no test-out option for employees. Past opt-out testing policies in congregate facilities for unvaccinated staff have not been efficient at preventing outbreaks that impact employees, clients and families, resulting in the loss of life of dedicated staff. Providing a test-out option would be both a financial burden for staff and taxpayers and ineffective at protecting the lives of Washingtonians.
Employees who refuse to be vaccinated will be subject to dismissal from employment for failing to meet legal job qualifications. The state will work with labor organizations on meeting collective bargaining obligations and adhering to civil service rules.
