WA to require proof of vaccine or negative COVID-19 test at large events statewide
Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday ramped up vaccine requirements in Washington state.
Starting Nov. 15, operators of large events in Washington will be required to verify that attendees 12 and older are either fully vaccinated or have a negative COVID-19 test within the past 72 hours.
The new requirement will apply to indoor events with 1,000 or more attendees, and outdoor events when there are more than 10,000 attendees. It covers ticketed or registered events, such as conventions, concerts, sporting events, fairs, theme parks and more.
The requirement will not apply to religious services or events held on K-12 school grounds. It also will not apply to large venues such as shopping malls, museums or grocery stores that are open to the public as part of their operations.
Inslee noted that while COVID vaccinations have increased, the state still needs to see more people get their shots.
“We cannot and we will not surrender to this disease. We cannot and we will not think that the status quo is good enough,” he said Thursday. “We have got to get on top of this disease and knock these numbers down.”
Some counties already have mandated vaccine proof for customers at bars and restaurants, and the new state requirement is similar to recent action taken by King County’s health officer.
King County, in a health order to take effect Oct. 25, will require verification of full vaccination status or a negative test “to enter outdoor public events of 500 or more people and indoor entertainment and recreational establishments and events such as live music, performing arts, gyms, restaurants, and bars.”
Washington’s sports teams in early September joined in a decision to require similar proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter stadiums and arenas.
A lengthy list of Seattle’s theater-arts venues already have similar requirements, along with Olympia arts venues, including the Washington Center for the Performing Arts.
In Pierce County, requiring proof of vaccine among patrons so far has been a decision made by individual restaurants and entertainment venues in the absence of any county-level health order beyond masking requirements.
As of Thursday morning, the state Department of Health’s COVID dashboard showed 59 percent of the state’s total population fully vaccinated.
King County reports 69.3 percent of its total population fully vaccinated, according to DOH dashboard data, compared with Pierce County at just over 50 percent.
The state action follows previous vaccine requirements by Inslee that affect state workers, K-12 school staff and health care workers, geared to boost the state’s overall vaccine rate.
State worker vaccine mandate
A statewide deadline of Oct. 18 looms for workers affected by the state’s COVID vaccine requirements. That date is the cutoff for workers to have either proof of full vaccination or an exemption approved by their employer.
The governor’s office early Thursday said that the Monday deadline for state employee verification is firm and would not be extended.
More than 90 percent of state workers have received the COVID-19 vaccine, Inslee said Thursday. A separate survey released Monday estimated about 88 percent of hospital workers among 94 percent of reporting hospitals were fully vaccinated.
“There are still 1.6 million Washingtonians ... who have not started their vaccinations,” Inslee said Thursday. “We know that our cases as a percentage of population, happily have been going down ... but we know they can come right back up.”
He noted that unlike with workers, a testing option had to be available when seeking proof of vaccine from the general public for events, given the logistics of granting exemptions.
He also remained firm on not allowing a testing option for workers who did not want the vaccine and did not meet medical or religious exemptions, although the federal rule coming might allow for it, he added.
“I have been clear in our state’s position that we have not found testing to be an adequate protection against this disease,” he said. “We tried that option with our Department of Corrections to allow employees to not be vaccinated and just take a test. Unfortunately that resulted in very, very considerable transmission in our facilities, some of it coming from our DLC employees.”
“I do want folks to know that we were going to look at this (federal) rule, but we will be actively considering not having a test out option in the state of Washington when that rule comes out.”
This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 2:39 PM with the headline "WA to require proof of vaccine or negative COVID-19 test at large events statewide."
