The Seattle School Board voted unanimously Wednesday to pass a resolution that encourages the state Board of Health to make vaccination against the coronavirus a requirement for all students in Washington.
The measure was put forward by Board President Chandra Hampson, who represents Northeast Seattle. It asks the state Board of Health to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of shots students are already required to get before attending school in Washington.
“COVID-19 is still a material threat to the health and safety of all students within the Seattle Public Schools community,” an early draft of the resolution says. “[It] disproportionately threatens the health and safety of children of color, and is a further threat to the successful continuation of in-person instruction.”
Resolutions are not legally binding, meaning the state Board of Health is not required to take any action.
Individual school districts in Washington do not have the authority to mandate vaccines for students, but the state Board of Health does. A spokesperson for the state board is on record saying the agency would consider making coronavirus shots mandatory once a vaccine is approved for use in children under 12. That happened earlier this month, when the FDA authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in kids ages 5-11.
Coronavirus cases were on the decline during the early fall months, but have begun to rise again as the holidays approach. Washington is currently averaging 1,738 new cases per day, which is a 14% drop in average cases over the last two weeks. State data shows that 61% of Washington residents are fully vaccinated. In people over 12, that figure is 71.5%.
The state Department of Health found that 189 coronavirus outbreaks occurred in Washington K-12 schools between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30. There have been 709 cases reported in Seattle Public Schools since classes began there in September, district data shows.
State leaders have lauded the effort by residents to get vaccinated following a slew of vaccination requirements put in place earlier this year. All state employees, school staff and healthcare workers were required to get vaccinated by late October or face termination. Early employment data following that deadline indicates that the vaccine requirements did not lead to crippling statewide staff shortages, as critics predicted they would.
Proof of vaccination or a negative test is also required to enter most large events in Washington and nearly every indoor business in King County.
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