A federal judge in Eastern Washington has denied a bid by firefighters, state troopers and others to halt Washington’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for state workers and emergency responders.
The group is suing Gov. Jay Inslee, Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer, Washington State Patrol Chief John Batiste and others.
They say their civil rights are being violated by the requirement they get vaccinated to continue in their jobs.
But the U.S. District Court denied their motion for a temporary restraining order.
October 18th was the deadline for thousands of workers in Washington to prove they’ve been fully vaccinated as a condition of their continued employment.
KOMO News reports that 94% of employees were fully vaccinated as of October 18th.
Data was also updated for workers who left their jobs- just under 1800 people either resigned, retired, or were fired.
The Office of Financial Management says nearly 2000 others are waiting to either be fully vaccinated or are in the process of leaving.