SPOKANE, Wash. — Earlier this week, Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced a vaccine requirement for state employees and health care providers.
Shortly after this announcement, the City of Spokane said it is not considering a vaccine mandate for its employees at this time. This includes the Spokane Fire Department. But how the statewide requirement applies to local fire departments is still being sorted out.
"Now we have to work through the complexity of department of health, to the emergency medical division, our providers, and try to gather enough information to work with our employees to implement that," Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said.
Schaeffer said increasing the number of people who are vaccinated will reduce the spread and contamination his staff encounter every day. He said it's something that keeps him up at night.
Chief Schaeffer said vaccination requirements are not a black and white subject.
"There are a lot of complexities, "Schaeffer said. "I would hope that people would err on the side of protecting their families and protecting their patients. But I also understand that that's not the case and people don't feel that way when it comes to vaccinating or not."
Chief Schaeffer said the department could not track how many of its employees are vaccinated because it's a medical procedure.
But he estimates, by word of mouth, about 50% of the fire department is vaccinated.
However, Spokane fire personnel are required to wear masks on all calls, regardless their vaccination status.