Inslee: Fully Vaccinated Persons to Get Some Preferential Perks

This will likely make national news, and likely (say some GOP legislators) trigger legal action.

Gov. Jay Inslee, during his press conference this week, said fully vaccinated persons will get preferential treatment when it comes to attending or getting access to sporting events, performing arts shows and even cruises.

Inslee remarked he is "alarmed" by what he called a softening in response to people seeking to get the COVID vaccine.

According to KOMO TV Seattle, Inslee said:

“It’s well known that we’ve had a slowdown in the demand for the vaccine, Now this is very concerning because now it is a terrible thing to think that we have vaccines to save people’s lives and not see it in people’s arms.”

He claims the state has gone from not having enough vaccines to having to shift them to areas with more demand. This has been verified, as we have seen a slowing of vaccine rates at the Benton Fairgrounds site. Hundreds of appointments have been open the last ten days to two weeks, and some vaccines went un-used.

Inslee also said, according to KOMO TV:

"These new guidelines will allow cruises to take place where everybody is vaccinated on the ship except those who can’t get vaccinated for one reason or another, This is going to go into effect in mid-May. Small example of the benefits of getting vaccinated.”

He also hinted vaccination rates might be utilized in the future as one of the metrics for whether counties advance or are phased back.

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However, already some officials, including GOP House Rep Jim Walsh (R-Aberdeen) are questioning whether this would even be legal for Inslee to offer these perks.

Walsh has already said it remains to be seen if WSU can legally enforce it's mandatory vaccine requirement for on-campus and in-person students, due to legal and discriminatory factors.

Now, Inslee appears to be treading into the same waters. These officials believe if indeed this preferential treatment is offered, there will be a slew of lawsuits.

The reason people are already saying this is discriminatory is because Inslee would be using the vaccine (which is a personal choice matter) to deny or lessen access to certain groups of people while rewarding others. This isn't like signing up for a digital service and getting a bonus; or getting a reward for download the Contact Tracing app; this is actual potential denial or limiting of services by a governmental entity.