WA DNR Requires Firefighters, Employees To Vaccinate

OLYMPIA, WA — Firefighters with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources are the latest group required to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, who helms the DNR, announced Monday that DNR firefighters, and all other DNR employees, would have until Oct. 18 to be fully vaccinated. At the same time, Franz is calling on national leaders to order the same mandate for all federal wildland firefighters.

In an open letter to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Franz argues that a universal vaccine mandate will be necessary to continue the battle against the wildfires raging across the west coast.

"On the fire line and in camps, COVID-19 not only threatens the health of firefighters but our ability to deploy critical firefighting resources to the fire lines," writes Franz. "At a time when we need them the most, we cannot afford to have any get sick."

Franz's letter goes on to formally request a universal vaccine mandate for all wildland firefighters.

"Given the extreme conditions we are seeing on the ground and across the Western United States, and given our shared commitment to protecting the health and safety of firefighters first and foremost, we must do more," Franz said.

The Department of Natural Resource's vaccine mandate is far from the first. Previously, Gov. Jay Inslee announced vaccine orders for state employees, teachers and school staff, and health care workers. Other agencies, like the City of Seattle and King County Executive's Office have followed suit with similar mandates.

Like the DNR's mandate, those orders require employees to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 or risk losing their positions. To be considered fully vaccinated, a patient must have received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and waited two weeks for full immunity to kick in.

Limited exemptions are available for those who have medical reasons or "sincerely held religious beliefs" for not getting the vaccine.

The DNR is also unlikely to be the last group to order a vaccine mandate. The Pfizer vaccine received the FDA's fully approval on Monday, which some have speculated will make it easier for businesses and governments alike to mandate the vaccine.

"There's the precedent in the past – if you look at public and private organizations mandating vaccines or requiring vaccination for things that are fully approved, there's precedent," said Dr. Joshua Liao, an Internal Medicine Physician with UW Medicine. "I think there's less precedent, because there's less precedent in general, about emergency authorization for vaccines. And so, I do think this milestone will provide a rationale for different organizations and institutions to begin that mandating vaccination."

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