Washington state’s unionized home care workers are getting a pass on the state’s vaccine mandate, as thousands of other healthcare workers are racing to meet an Oct. 18 deadline to receive shots.
Gov. Jay Inslee (D) included an exemption in the state’s mandate for approximately 45,000 care workers represented by the Service Employees International Union who provide in-home services to Medicaid recipients. Inslee’s Aug. 20 proclamation does not apply to home care workers who provide private pay services or to union-represented healthcare workers in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
The union said it supports all healthcare workers getting vaccinated and did not seek an exemption from the governor for home care workers. The SEIU is a politically influential union in Washington and has supported Democrats in the state legislature, as well as Governor Inslee.
A vaccine mandate goes into effect on Thursday for New York home care workers. Similar state mandates have already gone into effect in Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Maine’s vaccine mandate for home care workers will go into effect at the end of October.
This article originally appeared on McKnights Home Care
