One-third of Seattle police have not submitted vaccination proof ahead of deadline

One-third of Seattle police have not submitted proof that they are vaccinated against the coronavirus ahead of an upcoming deadline.

The Seattle Police Department released data on Tuesday showing that 720 sworn officers have submitted proof of vaccination, representing 67 percent of officers. Another 354 officers have not submitted proof.

Separately, 94 percent of the agency’s civilian workforce has submitted proof of vaccination.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkin (D) said in August that all city employees will have to be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18, unless they have a religious or medical exemption.

The policy was in line with a state mandate that Inslee announced in August, which does not allow for employees to opt for weekly testing. Some state agencies have sent employees who have not submitted proof of vaccination termination notices.  

In a letter to SPD staff last week, police chief Adrian Diaz warned that Oct. 5 was the deadline for police staff to submit proof of vaccination.

Diaz also said that Oct. 4 was the last day to receive a second dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, to meet the state’s guidelines.

“At the moment – we have to assume we have hundreds of unvaccinated individuals based on the information submitted,” Diaz wrote. “This could create a disruption to unit of assignments.”

Police Guild President Mike Solan said in an email to members Friday that SPD “sent out conflicting information” regarding the verification timeline,” The Seattle Times reported.

“It appears they have a concern of the lack of vaccination uploads as they try to properly plan staffing contingencies,” Solan wrote, according to the newspaper. “To be clear, the Mayor’s Vaccination Mandate states the FINAL date to submit your vaccine verification to the City is October 17, 2021 at 2359 hours.”