Misinformation about a January 12 State Health Council meeting was easy to believe for many »Publications» Washington Policy Center

Social media has mushroomed with the suggestion that the State Board of Health (SBOH) would consider a policy in its January 12 meeting using law enforcement to unwittingly detain individuals and families who do not choose to comply with various health demands.

Breathe deeply. Sources in the legislature, the Department of Health and the SBOH told me the suggestion was wrong. This “isn’t happening at all,” says Temple Lentz, an SBOH member and Clark County councilor, with whom I spoke on Friday. She adds: “This meeting is not what they are told.

The message circulating on the internet also suggests that the board is proposing the inclusion of “COVID-19 injections” as part of the school vaccination requirements. Lentz says this will not be voted on at the meeting and adds, “We’ll just hear an update from the technical advisory group who have been asked to research this issue and make a recommendation. The work of the advisory group is not over. Those interested in the update, however, should attend the online public meeting on 12.

The Department of Health and SBOH have been inundated with calls and emails about the allegations. So much so that when I tried to contact their communications teams and leave messages, I repeatedly received a recording that the mailbox was full and could not accept messages.

Council staff prepared a item to help clarify matters. It’s on the SBOH website now. Check it out. The article also explains how you can participate in the public meeting on January 12.

While the misinformation about a town hall meeting is unfortunate and has raised the blood pressure of many, needlessly, there is a lesson here that heads of state would be wise to heed: What was once unthinkable has become thinkable.

Two years ago, no one would think policies like quarantining unvaccinated people could happen. We rolled our eyes and laughed when we saw such an email ad or a Facebook post. In today’s Washington, it seems possible.

Washingtonians have been living under the emergency powers of a governor for 678 days now. The people were not represented. And the coercive and restrictive climate that federal, state, and local leaders have created – with various tenures, layoffs, and closures – makes people’s reaction to hearing bogus policy proposals perfectly natural.