OLYMPIA, Wash. — Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday that he won’t pursue additional sweeping mandates to strengthen a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for workers at large employers.
President Joe Biden has ordered that companies with 100 or more workers require COVID shots starting in January. Instead of getting vaccinated, those workers could be tested weekly.
Inslee has said he was considering additional state orders to make the Biden mandate more strict. One example would be removing the testing option, meaning workers would have to get vaccinated. Another consideration was to open the requirement up to smaller businesses.
But the governor’s announcement Thursday in a news conference signaled those additions to the federal mandate would not be pursued.
Inslee’s remarks come as confirmed cases and hospitalizations continued to gradually decrease in Washington.
State health officials, however, are nervous that gatherings for the coming holiday season could spark a new surge in the virus. That dynamic played out this time last year, although there were no authorized vaccines at the time.
------
