WASHINGTON, USA — The deadline for state workers to get vaccinated is approaching with hundreds of Washington State Patrol (WSP) employees waiting to hear if they will receive an exemption.
As of Monday, WSP reported 395 employees submitted a request for either a religious or medical exemption from getting the vaccine.
There are 373 requests for religious exemptions. Chris Loftist from the Washington State Patrol confirmed that the WSP is working through each individual case but so far every religious request exemption has been approved. There are around 100 religious cases left to be reviewed.
On the medical side of things, they have received 22 exemption requests. All of those cases have been approved.
The next step in the process is assigning accommodations or offering reassignments. Even though an exemption has been approved, WSP might be unable to provide an accommodation and that employee may still be let go.
Out of the 22 medical exemptions, six have been accommodated. Three accommodation requests have been denied and 13 are still under review.
The vaccine mandate, passed down by Inslee in early August, requires most state employees, healthcare workers and K-12 employees to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 or face losing their jobs.
In order to comply with the mandate, employees need to get their second COVID-19 vaccine on Oct. 4 in order to be considered fully vaccinated by Oct. 18. Depending on which vaccine employees get, some would need to start the vaccination process by Sept. 6 in order to make the Oct. 4 deadline.
The Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop Inslee's vaccine mandate from going into effect after the state and the union failed to reach a bargaining agreement.
The complaint filed in Thurston County Superior Court alleges the state "failed to bargain the effects of [the mandate] in good faith" with the union, according to a release from WFSE.