Latest Attempt To Halt Washington's Vaccine Mandate Fails: Report

OLYMPIA, WA — A last-minute attempt to halt to Gov. Jay Inslee's vaccine mandate for state workers has failed, according to a new report from The Seattle Times.

As the Times' Jim Brunner reports, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Carol Murphy denied a request for a temporary injunction in a lawsuit filed on behalf of hundreds of Washington employees early Monday.

The move means that Inslee's mandate, which hit its deadline Monday, will remain the law of the land. In her ruling, Murphy said Inslee had "the legal authority under the powers granted to the governor" to order the mandate, the Times reported. The plaintiffs argued that Inslee's order violated their constitutional rights.

“It is not surprising at all that people in Washington do not agree with the governor’s policy actions,” Murphy said during her oral ruling, The Associated Press reports. “It is also not surprising that other legislators and policy makers and other Washington residents think that no response or a different response is appropriate. Those questions are not before the court.”

Under the governor's mandate, state employees — including the hundreds of Washington State Police troopers, corrections officers, and other employees, who banded together to file the suit — were required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 18. Though some have pushed back against the mandate, many have complied: Figures released by the Office of Financial Management last week showed nearly 92 percent of the state's workforce was in compliance with the mandate by early October. According to the Associated Press, the order applies to some 61,000 employees of 24 state agencies.

The order also applies to state health care workers, who have also largely complied. A recent survey conducted by the Washington State Hospital Association found 88 percent of Washington's hospital workers had already provided proof of vaccination.

About 400,000 health care workers are subject to the mandate, as are 118,000 employees in child care and early learning, 155,000 in K-12 public instruction and 90,000 in higher education.

>> Read the full report from The Seattle Times.