OLYMPIA — New state and city of Seattle figures show the number of government workers getting their shots continues to inch up amid the coronavirus vaccine mandates.
About 275 more state employees have been verified as having gotten their shots since last week’s Oct. 18 deadline, according to updated figures released by the Office of Financial Management.
Gov. Jay Inslee had ordered state and school employees, as well as hundreds of thousands of health care workers, to be fully vaccinated by that date or lose their jobs. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and King County Executive Dow Constantine imposed similar orders.
The figures released Monday show slightly fewer state workers left or were fired over the mandate than agencies had originally reported, according to the OFM data.
The latest numbers show 1,785 workers left or were fired over the mandate, rather than the 1,887 announced last week.
Some agencies were still going through data when they turned over the figures reported last week, and so the status of workers was still being verified.
The number of vaccinated state employees now stands at 56,866. That is about 91 percent of all workers subject to the mandate before the job separations, or 93.5 percent of remaining and current workers.
An additional 3 percent of workers originally subject to the mandate and who sought religious or medical exemptions were granted accommodations to keep them employed in a role at less risk to the public.
The numbers will continue to fluctuate in the coming weeks.
For thousands of union and nonrepresented state workers, that Oct. 18 deadline wasn’t firm: They still have time in the coming weeks to verify they are vaccinated, start getting shots or get an accommodation approved by the state. Workers that don’t do any of those could still lose their jobs, or possibly retire.
About 3 percent of state workers originally subject to the mandate — that’s 1,941 employees — currently fall into that category.
Last week, the city of Seattle had seen 94 percent of its 11,000 employees vaccinated.
In an email Monday, Durkan spokesperson Kamaria Hightower wrote that an additional 128 city workers — roughly an additional 1 percent — have begun their vaccination process.
“Across all departments, we have had little to no service impacts” from the mandate, Hightower wrote, but the city will continue to monitor staffing situations closely.
“We are working with departments on hiring plans — some of which were also part of the Mayor’s budget,” Hightower wrote in the email, which shared the latest numbers by city departments.
At the Seattle Fire Department, 93 percent of 1,081 workers are now vaccinated.
As of Monday, 92 percent of the Seattle Police Department’s 1,428 active workers are fully vaccinated, according to Hightower. Another 1 percent have begun the vaccination process.
All sworn officers not assigned to patrol are currently working in uniform in case they’re needed to handle 911 calls.
