Loyalty is a two-way street

Loyalty should go both directions. Most of our health care workers and first responders chose to stay on the job and risk COVID exposure during the year before the vaccines were available. The health care workers taking care of COVID patients were potentially exposed every day.

They know the disease and they have the background knowledge to make an informed decision regarding taking the vaccines. Until recently all the vaccines were still classified as experimental. Long-term effects of the vaccines are not known since this whole pandemic started less than two years ago. A significant number of health care workers and first responders are refusing the vaccines.

Now Inslee has mandated that these folks who served us at risk must be fired if they make an informed decision not to take the vaccine. NO! We owe them the loyalty they showed us. Figure out something other than firing them. Frequent testing. Better PPE. Also, as COVID hospitalizations rise, who will replace them?

Tom Horne

Nine Mile Falls