Elizabeth Hovde of the Washington Policy Center shares that the governor’s dealings with COVID-19 seem more political than about public health

Elizabeth Hovde
Washington Policy Center

Gov. Jay Inslee, interviewed on TVW’s Dec. 15 “Inside Olympia,” talked about COVID-19 and the state’s response to it. That’s at the top of the hour. (Why his budget increases state spending and doesn’t include middle-class tax relief follows his COVID talk.)

The takeaway? The governor’s vaccine mandate is staying put for state employees in executive and small cabinet agencies, with $1,000 taxpayer dollars budgeted for each employee who provides verification in 2023 that he or she has all the recommended COVID-19 booster shots. 

This is despite Washingtonians’ disapproval of the booster incentive that the governor negotiated with labor. It’s also despite King County numbers that continually show people with boosters are more likely to test positive for COVID-19 than those with just initial vaccination — a requirement state employees have already had to meet and that many were fired over. The county’s hospitalization and death rates for boosted individuals compared to those who are just fully vaccinated are negligible. 

The state’s report for COVID-19 case rates, hospitalizations and deaths by vaccine outcome still fails to include information about boosters. This is a huge public-health shortcoming. Giving Washingtonians as much information as possible is a way to help them make good decisions and builds trust the state sorely needs when it comes to COVID-19 guidance. 

The governor’s dealings with COVID-19 seem more political than about public health. 

Explaining that the booster directive was negotiated out of the vaccine mandate with more money for union workers, Inslee said, “We think this is the sweet spot, and I hope it’s going to keep people healthy.” 

The COVID-19 vaccine mandate that the governor has made permanent and asked the Office of Financial Management to make rules for this summer is now in place — despite the fact that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people spread and contract COVID-19, despite the disease becoming less severe, despite comparative data on COVID-19 vaccine outcomes with states without mandates, despite the state’s staffing challenges — which were exacerbated by the mandate’s terminations — and despite some of the very words Inslee spoke in this interview. Read on for those.

When comparing and contrasting where we’re at today as opposed to a year ago, Inslee said you need boosters to have what he considers adequate protection. “If you haven’t had a vaccine for a couple of years now, you really aren’t having anywhere (near) adequate protection, particularly if you are of some age.” 

Reminder: The vaccine mandate for state employment is for working-age people, not for older people, who are the ones typically getting sick and dying from or with COVID-19. The vaccine mandate was also required of state workers in October of 2021. Vaccinations received then are more than a year old and, according to the governor, inadequate. Still, the people who don’t have up-to-date boosters can stay in their jobs, just without the bribe that was made. And the state won’t consider new hires for agencies still impacted by the mandate if they aren’t vaccinated. 

It’s about public health, we’re told. 

I agree with Inslee that COVID-19 is still a serious disease. We all need to stay informed to weigh risks and make ongoing patient-centered decisions. I disagree with him when he says vaccination has receded in our thinking, as he told his interviewer, Austin Jenkins. I think vaccination is something terminated workers — and those who support them — think about every day, as they live a life overturned by a senseless, outdated mandate and watch their vaccinated friends contract COVID.  

House Bill 1029 aims to reemploy workers who were forced out of jobs for lack of a COVID-19 vaccination. It should be considered seriously by all lawmakers this legislative session. 

Elizabeth Hovde is a policy analyst and the director of the Centers for Health Care and Worker Rights at the Washington Policy Center. She is a Clark County resident.