(The Center Square) – Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee has dropped the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for outdoor contractors and volunteers whose work doesn’t involve delivering health care services.
This means contractors such as landscapers, contracted or volunteer wildland firefighters – wildfire season is approaching – and contracted construction workers are no longer required to be vaccinated against the virus.
Vaccination requirements for other state agencies, healthcare, and educational settings remain unchanged, according to a news release put out by the Governor’s Office. That includes workers who perform health-related services outdoors, including EMTs and first responders.
Emily Glad, acting director of communications for the Washington State Department of Transportation, address how many people this could impact in her department.
“While it can vary widely, we estimate that at any point in time we have anywhere from 100-150 active construction projects, and anywhere between 4,000-5,000 contractor construction personnel involved,” she explained. “The 4,000-5,000 would mostly be folks who work outdoors.”
She added, “Of course, this can vary widely on any given day or any given month. We don’t have a good idea on volunteers at this point since some of the Adopt-a-Highway spring/summer efforts are just getting underway.”
“The updated guidance does not affect state employees who work for WSDOT,” she said.
