Governor Inslee has demanded via mandate that all healthcare workers in Washington state be vaccinated, or else lose their jobs by October 18, 2021. This mandate is in direct opposition with the recommendation of the IAFF (International Association of Firefighters), and is not supported by the CDC. 

You can be fully vaccinated, unvaccinated, pro-vaccine, or anti-vaccine, and still sign this petition as it only regards to the mandate. More details below. 

* see personal note to the Governor at the bottom.

Mandating the Covid-19 vaccine on anyone is a violation of our rights. Keep reading…

There are millions in Washington alone who disagree with mandating the vaccine, and while there are many who are vaccinated, many have chosen not to get it. Many of the unvaccinated are healthcare workers on the front line who are working alongside their fellow vaccinated coworkers while wearing proper masks, and there is no evidence that suggests this method is ineffective, nor is there any surge in the unvaccinated spreading the virus to the vaccinated. Currently only 50.6% of Americans are fully vaccinated. That leaves millions of Americans who have chosen against it for now, and that is their right. These are mostly Americans who are not against vaccinations in general, but need more time to decide. For those Americans to now lose their jobs because they are working on the front line without a vaccine makes no sense. These healthcare workers are wearing proper PPE (personal protective equipment) to keep them from contracting the virus, and use proper BSI (body substance isolation) techniques to remain COVID-19 free. This has proven to be effective and is actually what the CDC recommends as THE standard for both vaccinated and unvaccinated healthcare workers. The CDC is not recommending mandated vaccinations. For over 18 months this has remained true with MINIMAL breakthrough cases which can be attributed to a failure to use proper PPE by the providers. Last year they were heroes, now they will be unemployed? There is much more data to be collected in order to come close to making this mandate safe. Some are unwilling to take that risk yet.

Additionally, the governor has demanded that all EMS providers that work in medical such as nurses and firefighters with EMT or Paramedic certifications will be mandated. The IAFF (International Association of Firefighters) is opposed to this position of mandated vaccinations and has published a memo regarding their opposition. This is a class of members with hundreds of thousands of professionals who are on the frontlines, and they are not recommending mandated vaccinations, however they do encourage people get vaccinated. The CDC is in the same position, they offer freedom in choice without mandating. That is the reasonable and equitable approach to this, Governor. Please follow the lead of professionals on the frontline who are actually in the thick of it, and experts who are not recommending you pursue this approach.

Please, stand with healthcare workers to prevent mandating vaccines.

In closing, Governor Inslee, please use your humility and revisit your mandate to this vaccine. Do the right thing and stop the mandate. Imagine if one of these healthcare workers loses their job for refusing the vaccine due to beliefs that side with that of many other experts in their fields, such as nurses, doctors, firefighters, virologists, and immunologists… they cannot attend college due to most colleges requiring a Covid vaccine. You are effectively making every single healthcare employee who loses their job and leave them without any means to obtain a new education while maintaining their freedom to not be vaccinated. There is no freedom in your mandate. You are holding these people hostage by their credentials. Please recognize the infringement of freedom in that. Again, if a healthcare employee loses their job because they don’t want to be vaccinated, you are making these people jobless, and without a means to reeducate themselves to make a new living. 

All of that, for a survival rate of greater than 99% for the greater majority of the world population. 

Thank you.