By Pepper Fisher

The day of reckoning is fast approaching. Monday is the deadline for when most Washington teachers, health care workers and public employees need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or lose their jobs.

Some elected officials have been calling for Governor Inslee to extend that deadline, but in a news conference Thursday afternoon Inslee said he would not.

“The verification deadline for employment is approaching Monday. That deadline will not be extended. People have had 10 weeks to get vaccinated. We’ve had plenty of opportunity and access to the vaccinations and people now need to make a choice.”

Inslee said about 92% of the state’s employees had made the choice to get vaccinated and he is confident that others will do so before the deadline. For those who choose not to, he wished them well.

“Some individuals who choose to walk away from their state employment, we want them to know that we have appreciated their service to date and we wish them well. But I want to express my total appreciation of the state employees who have answered this public call and have made a decision to protect the citizens they serve.”

To those who predicted there would be a mass exodus of state employees because of the mandate, the Governor said the 92% vaccination rate proved those fears were unfounded.

“This is extremely gratifying. It is gratifying because we now know there will not be a mass exodus of state employees, and we will be able to continue essential State services for the people of the state of Washington. We’re going to keep operating just fine. There might be some operational changes in agencies, but they have provided a way to do that.”

The Governor announced a new mandate on Thursday as well.

“Today I’m announcing a vaccine verification requirement for large events in the state of Washington. Effective November 15th, large events in Washington state will be required to verify that their attendees are either fully vaccinated or received a negative test within the previous 72 hours.”

The new mandate applies to everyone 12 and older. It applies to indoor events of 1,000 people or more, and outdoor events with 10,000 or more, including conventions, concerts, sporting events and fairs.

He said it does not apply to religious events and K-12 school events when they are held on school property.