30 Percent Of Pierce County Firefighters Are Unvaccinated: Report

TACOMA, WA — Three in ten Pierce County firefighters are not vaccinated, according to a new report from the News Tribune.

In its report, the Tribune found that roughly 30 percent of the county's firefighters were unvaccinated, and thus at risk of losing their jobs if they do not become fully vaccinated by the Oct. 18 deadline.

Some have raised concerns that this potential exodus could in turn negatively impact fire response efforts. Among them is Aaron James, union president of Pierce County Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 726, who told the Tribune that local fire crews were already stretched thin, and that the mandate could "devastate" their workforce. James also raised concerns about the vaccine mandate taking away a firefighter's choice to do what they believe is best for their health.

Others, like East Pierce Fire & Rescue Chief Jon Parkinson, have said they are less concerned about the fallout.

“We have a dynamic staffing plan which is designed to accommodate impacts caused by a number of unforeseen issues such as weather, injuries, illness, and disasters,” Parkinson said in an email to the Tribune.

Firefighters are trained as medics, and as a result fall under Gov. Jay Inslee's Aug. 9 vaccine order, which required health care workers to become fully vaccinated by Oct. 18. To be considered fully vaccinated, a patient must have received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and waited two weeks for full immunity to kick in.

Inslee and other supporters of the vaccine mandate argue the requirement is necessary to protect public health — and is thus part of their job as emergency responders.

"It is hard for all of us to watch cases increase and vaccination rates slow as we have vaccines available," said Washington Secretary of Health Dr. Umair Shah at a conference announcing the mandate. "Our rise in cases is largely due to those people not getting vaccinated, but the decision not to get vaccinated is now impacting others as well."

This week, Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz issued a similar mandate, requiring vaccination for all Department of Natural Resources employees, including DNR firefighters. She also published an open letter to the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture asking them to implement broader vaccine mandates for firefighters across the country.

"On the fire line and in camps, COVID-19 not only threatens the health of firefighters but our ability to deploy critical firefighting resources to the fire lines," wrote Franz. "At a time when we need them the most, we cannot afford to have any get sick."

>> Read the full story in the News Tribune.