Washington State employees will no longer be required to get a COVID-19 vaccination in order to keep their jobs.Read More
A proposal in the Washington Legislature would make it a crime to use or sell a fake COVID-19 vaccination card. The sponsor says he wants to deter people from even considering the ruse, but he also wants to send a signal to prosecutors to prioritize these cases as a matter of protecting public health.Read More
At the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, those detained received the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. Some are now two months or more from their inoculation, meaning that under CDC recommendations, they would be eligible for their booster.Read More
Emergency authorization for the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 was given last week by the CDC. Parents of kids that age have lots of questions.Read More
Washington has nine independently elected statewide officeholders. All but one of those elected officials has required their employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The holdout was the lone Republican.Read More
In several areas of the state, school resource officers are contracted employees from sheriff’s departments. Pierce and Benton county both supply sheriff deputies to local school districts as school resource officers. In the Kiona Benton school district, the school resource officer is sheriff deputy Brad Klippert, who is also a state representative. Read More
Roughly nine in 10 employees of the state of Washington are now vaccinated against COVID-19. Gov. Jay Inslee considers that a huge success and a win for public health. But his vaccine mandate has also led to the departure of hundreds of state employees. Now there are questions about the implications for some state services.Read More
Ninety two percent of Washington state employees are vaccinated against COVID-19.Read More
Good news for parents of kids that are between five and eleven. Dr. Person, the Health Officer for Benton Franklin Health Department believes by the middle of November kids should be able to be vaccinated against COVID-19.Read More
Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate has survived an 11th hour court challenge. On Monday, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Carol Murphy denied a motion for an injunction to block the mandate from taking effect.Read More
Washington State University head football coach Nick Rolovich was terminated Monday after he failed to comply with Governor Jay Inslee's vaccine mandate.Read More
Monday is the deadline for Washington state employees, healthcare and long-term care workers and those working in the education field to be fully vaccinated. Those who aren’t could be out of a job by day’s end. Some of the state employees who face termination got exemptions, but not a workplace accommodation so they could stay on the payroll.Read More
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday announced a statewide requirement that attendees at large events show proof of being vaccinated against COVID-19 or proof of a negative test taken in the 72 hours before the event.Read More
The Food and Drug Administration released briefing documents Tuesday on booster shots for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines ahead of a two-day public meeting of advisers to the agency that starts Thursday.Read More
The days are quickly ticking down to next Monday's deadline when most Oregon and Washington teachers, health care workers and public employees need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.Read More
It was a challenging summer at Washington’s state-run homes for veterans. Two of the four homes experienced widespread COVID-19 outbreaks. Four veterans died. Now the homes are bracing for another challenge: the potential for a staffing shortage as the governor’s vaccine mandate kicks in.Read More
Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate covers more than 800-thousand workers in education, state government and healthcare. But there’s one group of hands-on caregivers it doesn’t apply to.Read More
Dozens of Washington state troopers, prison correctional officers, ferry workers and other public sector employees have filed a lawsuit in Walla Walla County to try to overturn Gov. Jay Inslee's COVID-19 vaccine. The lawsuit alleges the mandate is unlawful and unconstitutional.Read More
The Washington Federation of State Employees announced a tentative deal with Gov. Jay Inslee early Saturday morning.Read More
All school employees in Washington state must get a Covid-19 vaccine, or risk losing their job. Also, masks will once again be required in most indoor settings starting Monday, August 23, according to the latest mandates from Gov. Jay Inslee.Read More
How bad is the fifth wave of COVID-19? One hospital in Thurston County, Washington is limiting visitors, the intensive care unit is at capacity and elective surgeries and procedures are being delayed.Read More
Following the lead of several other states, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Monday issued a requirement that state employees along with private health care and long-term care workers get the COVID-19 vaccine or face termination from their jobs.Read More
Washingtonians who are fully vaccinated should wear masks in public indoor settings, Gov. Jay Inslee said on Wednesday. Fully vaccinated people who live with young children or someone who is vulnerable to sickness should consider masking indoors even in counties with lower transmission. This is guidance and not a legal requirement.Read More
According to Novavax, the vaccine's manufacturer, it had a 100% efficacy against the original strain of the coronavirus and 93% efficacy against more worrisome variants that have subsequently appeared.Read More
It was designed as an innovative way to promote COVID-19 vaccinations, but Washington’s new “joints for jabs” program is off to a rough start. Officials announced Monday that the state’s nearly 500 licensed marijuana retailers could begin hosting vaccine clinics and offering a single, free pre-rolled marijuana cigarette to any 21-plus adult who received a shot there.Read More
The state Liquor and Cannabis Board is calling the effort the “Joints for Jabs” program. The board says licensed adult-use marijuana retail shops can give away a single pre-rolled joint to anyone over 21 who gets a shot at an on-site vaccine clinic held by July 12.Read More
The U.S. COVID-19 vaccination program has gone from zero to 50% in less than six months. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Biden administration said, half of the country's adults are now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.Read More
Hesitancy to get vaccinated against the coronavirus has justifiably drawn considerable attention because some counties and neighborhoods are lagging far behind in the campaign to stamp out COVID-19. Less often do you hear about the COVID-19 vaccination overachievers. In recent weeks, pockets of the Pacific Northwest have exceeded the threshold for community immunity. Read More
The Food and Drug Administration says it's now OK to store the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at normal refrigerator temperatures for up to a month. This is much longer than was previously allowed under the FDA's emergency authorization and will make storage and distribution of the vaccine easier.Read More
The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that children 12 to 15 years old are now eligible to receive a key COVID-19 vaccine as the agency expanded its emergency use authorization for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.Read More
WSU's vaccine requirement comes with some major exceptions. Medical and religious exemptions have existed for vaccinations on campus for decades, but this time around, WSU is adding a “personal exemption,” and following that announcement, provided some clarity on exactly what that means.Read More
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday after the panel voted that the vaccine is safe and effective at preventing COVID-19, and its benefits outweigh the known risks.Read More
Peeling paint. Cracked buckets. Employees dragging unsealed bags of medical waste. Procedures ignored. Inadequately trained staff. All of these were problems noted by U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors at the Emergent BioSolutions factory in Baltimore – a facility that is intended to produce materials for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.Read More
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday they are recommending a "pause" in the use of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine out of an "abundance of caution" while a review of reports of rare, potentially dangerous blood clots is conducted.Read More
A recent NPR/Marist poll found that one in four Americans said they would refuse a coronavirus vaccine outright if offered. Another 5% are "undecided" about whether they would get the shot. Although the numbers were highest for Republican men and residents of rural areas, there were still a significant number of people across all ages and demographic groups who claim they Read More
A more easily spread coronavirus variant first identified in England last year has now become the dominant strain in the U.S., the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.Read More
More Murrow News Stories PULLMAN, WASH – Dodge Matthews has been waiting for his grandparents to get the coronavirus vaccine “They’ve been eligible to get the COVID vaccine, but it’s […]Read More
