Inslee expands mask mandate, announces vaccine requirements for teachers

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

K-12 educators and employees of Washington's higher education institutions have until Oct. 18 to be fully vaccinated from Covid-19 or else face termination, Gov. Jay Inslee announced during a news conference on Wednesday.

He also announced the statewide indoor mask mandate will expand back to include vaccinated people, effective Monday.

Inslee last week issued a requirement for state employees, but it was limited, leaving off teachers and employees of agencies outside his cabinet. It was a move he made as Covid-19 cases started to surge again due to the Delta variant sweeping through unvaccinated populations.

The vaccination requirements for school employees don't just fall on teachers. The governor said "school staff, coaches, bus drivers, school volunteers and others working in school facilities" will all have to follow the timeline laid out for state employees. While the requirement doesn't include tribal schools, it will cover public, private and charter schools.

https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/08/18/inslee-expands-mask-mandate-issues.html

Gov. Inslee mandates vaccines for educators and staff, orders all vaccinated to mask up

In a sign of the growing concern over the escalating spread of the COVID-19 delta variant and the increasing strain it has put on Washington’s health care system, Governor Jay Inslee approved a requested mandate from state Superintendent Chris Reykdal to require all K-12 public school teachers be vaccinated — with limited exceptions for medical or religious reasons — or risk losing their job.

The mandate from the governor also applies to private and charter school staff statewide.

“In the state of Washington, one in 14 people has gotten COVID and more of them are getting it. One in 19 of those people will end up in a hospital based on our last 18 months of experience. One out of five people who end up in the hospital lose their life,” Reykdal explained last week in making his public request for Gov. Inslee to mandate vaccinations for school staff.

“There is turbulence ahead and we can see it in the data and the research, we can see it when we don’t follow mask orders. We can see it when we don’t vaccinate. In states with low vaccination rates, the cases are exploding, hospitalizations are up, and loss of life is increasing. And we can see that coming if we don’t take additional steps,” Reykdal warned.

https://mynorthwest.com/3096839/inslee-vaccines-for-educators-mask-mandate/

[oldtime dfl_er]

1. Thank you, Governor Inslee!

I live in a neighborhood that's pretty compliant but I still mask up every time I go anywhere indoors, grocery store or whatever. We need to do this and I'm glad he's stepping up.