Washington requires COVID-19 vaccination for teachers, staff

By RACHEL LA CORTE

Associated Press

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington state is expanding its COVID-19 vaccine mandate to include all public, charter and private school teachers and staff — plus those working at the state's colleges and universities.

Those who are not fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 risk losing their jobs, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Wednesday.

Inslee's office said the latest mandate also applies to college coaches, including Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich, who said he has declined to be vaccinated for personal reasons. Rolovich is one of two state employees scheduled to make more than $3 million this year along with Washington football coach Jimmy Lake.

Inslee on Wednesday also expanded the statewide indoor mask mandate in place for non-vaccinated individuals to include those who are vaccinated.

Just like a vaccine mandate announced last week that applies to most state workers, private health care and long-term care employees, weekly testing will not be an option for school and college employees who want to avoid vaccination and maintain their employment, and the only opt-out is a medical or religious exemption. The vaccine mandate does not apply to students, though K-12 students and staff are required to wear masks when the school year starts next month.

The Democratic governor’s mandate appears to be the most sweeping of actions taken by any other state. Last week, California announced a similar mandate that covers both public and private schools, but allows a testing option. Earlier this month, Hawaii required all Department of Education staffers to disclose their vaccination status or face weekly testing.

Washington's vaccine mandate also applies to most childcare and early learning providers who care for children from multiple households. Tribal schools are not included.

Inslee's press conference was originally set to be held at an Olympia elementary school, but was moved to the governor’s conference room due to security concerns after an anti-mandate group planned to protest at the school. Last Friday, more than 300 people gathered at the Capitol to protest the state worker and health care vaccine mandates.

As for the expanded indoor mask mandate, some areas had already imposed directives in their areas, and the state’s local health officers have recently recommended the wearing of masks indoors. Inslee’s office said the expansion starting Aug. 23 is needed because of a sharp increase in hospitalizations.

The statewide mask mandate builds on the recommendation that Inslee made last month to follow federal guidance and “recommend” that everyone regardless of vaccination status wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas where there is “substantial or high” rates of COVID-19.

As of Monday, all of the state’s 39 counties were in the “high” threshold range, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There have been more than 468,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases — plus nearly 49,000 “probable” cases — in Washington state, and 6,269 deaths. State health officials say that most of the state’s new infections are caused by the delta variant, a more contagious version of the coronavirus.

As of last week, nearly 71.5% of people age 12 and older have initiated vaccination and about 63% are fully vaccinated.