Gov. Jay Inslee’s new sweeping vaccine requirement for public, private and charter school staffers, along with a new statewide mask mandate, drew swift criticism once again from Southwest Washington’s Republican leaders.
And between Republicans, state officials and those now impacted by the mandates, one particular disagreement has emerged: whether or not the requirements will lead to an exodus of educators and health care and state workers.
Inslee’s new “extreme ultimatums,” Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, said in a statement, will “result in less teachers and less health care providers at a time when we need this most.”
Senate Minority Leader John Braun, also of Centralia, issued a similar warning this week.
“Our kids can’t afford to be deprived of even more in-person education, but that’s exactly what could happen if districts lose teachers, staff and funding,” he wrote.
On Thursday, during a meeting of the newly-formed group “Medical Freedom Lewis County,” several attendees lamented what they described as their impending termination. The crowd of about 150 seemed determined to produce exactly what Aberdeen Republican Rep. Jim Walsh told the state to expect: resistance.
“The Lewis County Republican Party has your back,” party chair and Winlock Mayor Brandon Svenson said on stage, adding that he won’t be moving out of state to avoid the mandates: “They’re going to have to drag me out of Winlock in a body bag.”
Abbarno and Lewis County Commissioner Sean Swope were also in attendance to condemn the governor’s new order.
“I’ve had people call us in tears. They’re terrified,” Angie Middleton, the group’s co-founder and a Department of Corrections employee, told The Chronicle. “Our livelihoods are being stripped.”
The group’s online and in-person presence perpetuated what public health officials have identified as COVID-19 misinformation.
Across the aisle, state officials this week said they’re confident that those in public service will opt to get the jab instead of risking their livelihoods.
While the majority of state residents are fully vaccinated, rates are lagging in Lewis County, where cases continue to skyrocket to never-before-seen highs.
“Look: it is our hope, and I think a grounded belief, that once people think about this, they’re going to choose to stay in these incredibly important careers,” Inslee said during his Wednesday press conference. “These are dedicated people. And there’s simply no reason to abandon a career when you’ve got a safe, effective vaccine available to you.”
He added that he is “extremely hopeful” that the number of people who do leave their posts in lieu of getting vaccinated will be “very small.”
“And if you leave, the vast majority of people will not be eligible for unemployment compensation, either,” Inslee said. “As that reality starts to sink in on people, we think more people will have serious discussions with their physicians (about the vaccine).”
Washington’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal estimated the majority of educators across the state have already been vaccinated.
“This is not alpha. This is delta,” Reykdal said of the highly-transmissible variant now responsible for the vast majority of positive cases in the state. “And it requires us to step up in a way we have not done so.”
He also framed the new vaccine mandate as important to ensure schools stay open in the fall, avoiding major equity issues that transpired during virtual learning, like the internet issues many districts struggled with in Lewis County.
Locally, Mossyrock’s boys basketball coach, 41-year-old Adam Deck, is one educator potentially staring down termination. The three-year coach — whose grandmother died after a bout with COVID-19 and whose parents also contracted the disease — took to social media this week to lament the “sad day.”
Deck, who hasn’t gotten a vaccine since he was a young child, said he’d rather be fired than take the shot.
A religious exemption is also an option — one Bresnahan spent much of his speaking time Thursday describing to the crowd. At work and in school systems, it’s a process he’s gone through before.
With his religious past, the Department of Corrections employee expects to easily get an exemption. But he said it may prove more difficult for those without an obvious history with a church.
According to OSPI spokeswoman Katy Payne, individuals will “need to attest to their belief and describe why that belief restricts their ability to receive a COVID-19 vaccine” in order to be exempt.
A template form and process are currently being developed for religious and medical exemptions, but Payne said no philosophical or personal exemptions are allowed under the governor’s mandate.
In the Toledo School District, Superintendent Chris Rust told The Chronicle he’s fielding questions on how to obtain a religious exemption. As of Thursday, he hadn’t heard from anyone planning to leave their job over the mandate, although “the governor’s order has definitely put that possibility on the table for many of our employees.”
Reykdal told Q13 Thursday that the exemption process would leave room for those “not belonging to a particular church,” adding “no, we’re not going to fire a bunch of teachers.”
Inslee offered a firmer sentiment the day before:
“It is a job requirement, and people will be held to account by loss of job if they cannot come into compliance,” he said. “But they can. And I believe people will.”
