Hundreds protest Washington Gov. Inslee's vaccine mandate

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Hundreds of people gathered at the state Capitol in Olympia on Saturday to protest Gov. Jay Inslee’s vaccine mandate.

The mandate, which Inslee announced in early August, requires most state workers, healthcare workers and school employees to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 or face losing their jobs. Inslee has said the getting people vaccinated is essential for getting Washington past the pandemic.

Organizers of the rally Saturday warned that a large segment of state workers, including many firefighters, sanitation workers and bus drivers, won’t get the vaccine — as much as 30% to 40% statewide, they said. It wasn’t clear what that estimate was based on.

“If the Governor refuses to rescind his mandate, it will mean that multiple areas of the state will be severely reduced or shut down completely,” Tyler Miller, of the group Liberty, At All Hazards, said in a news release. “The Governor is unnecessarily threatening the genuine safety and well-being of the citizens of Washington if he forces his mandate to stand.”



People gather outside the Capitol to protest Gov. Jay Inslee's vaccine mandate for state workers, Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021 in Olympia, Wash. (Drew Perine/The News Tribune via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/health-coronavirus-pandemic-washington-2b09ba3dc808c5c732de161a5c0bdfe6

[dexdah]

1. Washington State Is Hiring

Washington state is looking to hire people to provide genuine safety and well-being for the citizens of Washington.
If you are able and unwilling to be vaccinated, then maybe you lose your state and local government employment.

[dpibel]

9. GOOD TRY!!

I'm thinking you believe there's a serious burn in there.

Unfortunately, you haven't articulated it.

Want to give it another shot?

Oh.

Welcome to DU. You will enjoy it here a lot.

[ArizonaLib]

19. I like your use of 'another shot'

Perfect!

The state will be shut down eventually if they keep refusing free preventive medical treatment.

[Deuxcents]

2. I just cannot understand the reasoning

To protest a mandate to save lives. How far into denial are these people?

[Irish_Dem]

11. I think it means the GOP rot is far deeper than we could even imagine.

We had no idea so many people were so damn crazy.

[Rhiannon12866]

39. Same here

And this is scary as hell.

[Irish_Dem]

40. I know, alarming and scary. Anti-vaxxers, 1/6, Trump and his followers.

It is all adding up to scary stuff.

[ZZenith]

3. So, not a Mensa meeting then, I gather.

I can’t seem to get used to this dystopian version of the U.S.

It was always going to be the result of decades of encroaching corruption and the consequent erosion of our education system but it still comes as a shock somehow. I know SO many good people, all rowing furiously in a forward direction but then you have this lot tethered to the back of the boat flailing in the opposite.

*sigh*

[NewHendoLib]

5. THIS!!!

[mountain grammy]

10. I'm struggling with this too.

[Irish_Dem]

12. If this were a movie, I would absolutely not believe it could ever happen here.

Yet here we are.

[Moebym]

18. And yelling all the while

"row faster!"

[NewHendoLib]

4. we are living in a most fucked up time. pride in ignorance is on display.

[Lulu Latech]

6. People will get their shots

I know my county which includes Seattle has an over 70% vaccination rate. We have our share of paid agitators going to the school board meetings as well. We will never have 100% compliance anywhere and when peoples paychecks are impacted they will line up.

So sick of these people and their BS

[BlueIdaho]

7. This all started with the GOP "Common Sense" anti intellectualism movement.

Over decades they have pushed the notion that your ignorance is the equal of informed scientific conclusions. Our only hope is that the shallow end of the gene pool will be erased by a virus they either (a) don’t believe in or (b) can be easily cured by taking lethal doses of animal grade de-wormer.

[yaesu]

8. is ir really news what a hundred idiots do? um, no, it isn't. MSM needs to go back to

journalism school.

[aggiesal]

13. Hundreds? How about millions who didn't attend, who support it? ...

These probably voted for Pendejo45.

[montanacowboy]

14. Fucking Morans!

Even here in King County the crazy lives. We like to think it's only over in the red area of the state but these vermin are everywhere.

[Cryptoad]

15. Ur Job,,,, Ur Body,,,

No vax,,, go flip burgers,,,,,,

[Moebym]

16. These people do not understand what it means

To live in a civilized society. We have freedoms, but with them come responsibilities: obeying laws and lawful orders designed to ensure public safety and health. We cannot reap the benefits of living in a civilized society without giving something of ourselves in return, but this is what they either fail to understand or refuse to accept.

If they want absolute freedom, they are free to move to a remote wilderness and become entirely self-reliant.

[KT2000]

26. when I was in high school

every boy had to register for the draft when he turned 18. No one was screaming about freedom - stop the war, yes. This modern notion of freedom is nothing more than total selfishness. They do not consider at all the safety and health of anyone else. They are proud of their selfishness. It makes me sick that so many people are this messed up.

[Hulk]

17. A couple hundred proud morons?......not so bad.

If it was THOUSANDS, I'd be concerned. hundreds is a nothing more than a small neighborhood of idiots.

[ArizonaLib]

20. Yet the media covers them

This country would be completely different (better) if liberals got coverage everytime a few hundred showed up for causes.

[Hulk]

25. Very true

It's like they are required to cover the dumbest...no matter how many.

[AllaN01Bear]

37. thats my point, the m$ greedia almost always covers the con first when they

whine librul media.

[Ziggysmom]

21. If you lose your job for refusing to get a shot, you probably won't be eligible for unemployment.

You can end up fired, sick or dead. Your choice. Your freedom to choose, nobody is holding you down and sticking you against your will. Dummasses.......

[DanieRains]

22. Thank You Jay

I live in Seattle and I want to avoid stupid people coughing their Covid on me as much as possible.

Or kids at school.

"They" already hate Inslee because they are so stupid anyway.

How dare anyone tell them not to risk other people's lives by wearing masks, or shutting down their businesses for a time, just to keep a virus from killing thousands.

Other people never matter to right wingers.

[JohnSJ]

23. I believe there are around 7.6 million people in Washington State, verses a few hundred who

are protesting against vaccines

I suspect Darwin will take care of some of those anti-vaxers

[Shellback Squid]

24. please get closer to each other , interview them in sealed room

we really need their opinions

[mjvpi]

30. Exactly. Let's bring their freedumb to its logical conclusion.

Interdependence and systems thinking can be easily understood with a good example to mull over.

[rickyhall]

27. And the repugs move underground, make theirs a cold movement.

[maxrandb]

28. "Liberty at all Hazards" my ass

That Asspickle would be the first one to put on a bonnet, slap on a diaper and shove his thumb in his mouth on the deck of the Titanic.

Their ignorance is only exceeded by their zealotry.

[bucolic_frolic]

29. Those people are insanem - Vaccination is the no-brainer of no-brainers!

A well tested, proven track record with hundreds of millions of shots to prevent - ready for it - dying!! If not serious illness, at great pain. You could sell this to anyone during any of the great plagues of history. And these willful, ignorant fools can't figure it out. Governments have the power to compel. They tax, they draft, they set rules and regulations. Giving them an arm and a couple days' aches for greatly improved outcomes is not even contestable.

THESE PEOPLE ARE STUPID!!!

[LiberalLovinLug]

31. I'd think there are hundreds of unemployed Washingtonians who should apply

A State employee most likely gets union wages, benefits etc...Job security. For a couple of pricks in the arm?. If these selfish idiots aren't going to realize how good they've got it, others will gladly take their place I'm sure.

[ancianita]

32. Protestors should be told they will never get to herd immunity with two herds.

On the other hand, I'd err on the side of disagreeing with experts who say herd immunity doesn't really matter at this point.

Herd immunity essentially requires vanquishing the virus except for occasional flare-ups that can be quickly quenched. But there are several obstacles, foremost among them the emergence of new variants that are more infectious, possibly more deadly, and better able to dodge immunity...

One of the most pressing questions is whether the variants will significantly erode vaccine effectiveness, says Washington State Epidemiologist Dr. Scott Lindquist.

The state recently bought high-speed genetic sequencers to boost surveillance of the mutants and is also looking for signs the variants are escaping immunity. “If someone who’s vaccinated gets the disease, I want to know if it’s one of the variants breaking through,” Lindquist says...

The encouraging news is that vaccine-induced immunity is more robust than natural immunity, says Dr. Larry Corey, co-director of the national COVID-19 vaccine trials network based at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. And most of the vaccines remain highly effective — even against the variants — in their most crucial function: preventing hospitalization and deaths...

“This is the relevant first metric for the success of the vaccine program,” Corey says. “We need to get the vaccine into people’s arms and educate people about the importance of this … and stop talking about herd immunity.”

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/we-may-never-reach-herd-immunity-but-it-probably-doesnt-matter/

[Bengus81]

36. That cattle and horse de-worm shot they want will be their new "herd" immunity

[ancianita]

38. Omg, here I thought I was being all sciency. You crack me up.

Whodathunk! And how feral funny that they do believe they are literally a herd!

[paleotn]

33. Amurka. Home of the dumb and the moronic.

[Sergei_Potemkin]

34. This is normal Olympia

I live in Oly. We get people driving in from Aberdeen, up from Longview and Chehalis, or over the pass from Spokane to gyrate in front of the capitol to demonstrate how much they hate Inslee on the regular. With the employment situation in WA I can't conceive of any of these threats to take their ball and go home amounting to anything. State and medical system jobs are sought after. I absolutely can't see these numbers. The first post is correct: no vacuum goes unfilled, and WA will be hiring.

PS: CA first responders willing to get a vaccine please take note.

[gopiscrap]

42. welcome to du

I live in Tacoma

[Bengus81]

35. What did Saint Ronnie say about PATCO?? Well...I didn't fire them,they QUIT.

Same with these stupid asshats. It doesn't matter,their job will open up when they DIE.

[Vinca]

41. Just a matter of time before the idiot in his yellow, green and black shirt is making his raspy

CNN video admitting he was wrong and to wear a mask and get vaccinated. At least the right wing talking heads are starting to kick off, too, so maybe the insanity will end at some point.