BI parks requires vaccinations
Published 1:30 am Thursday, December 9, 2021
Employees and volunteers of the Bainbridge Island Metropolitan and Parks District must get COVID-19 vaccinations by Dec. 21 or receive weekly testing.
The parks board made that decision last week.
Their resolution says the virus spreads easily from person to person and can result in serious illness or death, and has been classified by the World Health Organization as a worldwide pandemic. The governor and president have called it a state and national emergency.
It goes on to say the vaccines are effective in reducing infection, and widespread vaccination is the primary means to protect everyone, including people who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, youth who are not eligible to receive a vaccine, immunocompromised individuals and other vulnerable people.
Anyone in Parks who is not vaccinated by Dec. 21 will be suspended without pay, terminated from employment or otherwise released from service unless the worker is granted an exemption or receives weekly testing.
