PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University announced it will soon eliminate a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for most employees, contractors, and volunteers. WSU said the change was “due in part to the success of previous COVID-19 vaccination efforts.”
The University will lift the vaccine requirement at the same time that Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced the state will end the remaining COVID-19 emergency orders and state of emergency by Oct. 31, 2022.
Despite the announcement for staff, COVID-19 vaccines will still be required for students.
“As decided prior to the beginning of the school year, COVID-19 vaccinations will continue to be required for students enrolled on a physical WSU campus through the 2022-23 academic year,” WSU said in a written statement.
The announcement also said the employee, contractor, and volunteer requirement would be lifted “in most settings,” but did not elaborate on the exceptions.
Washington State University made news in October 2021 when the school fired head football coach Nick Rolovich. Rolovich applied for a religious exemption to the state mandate that all state employees must get vaccinated for COVID-19. The exemption request was denied and WSU said that they could not make appropriate accommodations for Rolovich if he was unvaccinated. Rolovich has since filed a tort suit against the state, seeking $25 million in damages for wrongful termination.
Despite lifting the requirement for employees, contractors, and volunteers, WSU still encourages people to get vaccinated and receive an updated, bivalent COVID-19 booster.
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