COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement

Governor Inslee’s COVID-19 emergency orders ended Oct. 31, 2022. This means as of Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022, proof of COVID-19 vaccination is no longer required for students and employees at Seattle Colleges. 

Vaccination remains the best protection from COVID-19. King County recommends additional booster shots in alignment with the flu vaccine this fall for those who are eligible. For vaccine locations and scheduling, visit the Department of Health’s (DOH) Vaccine Locator. The DOH also offers more information on COVID-19 booster guidance. 
 

The information below is no longer applicable as of Nov. 1, 2022:

In the interests of everyone's health and safety, Seattle Colleges has chosen to be a fully vaccinated campus per Governor Inslee’s higher education proclamation. This requires all students, staff, and faculty to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. An individual is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the final dose of the vaccine. Exemptions to this requirement may be granted for medical or sincerely held religious reasons.

The accordion boxes below offer information for specific groups regarding the vaccination requirement as well as reporting and verifying vaccination status. There is also a frequently asked questions section for students below that.

NOTE: all students; employees; contractors, educational partners, and their workers; visitors and guests must observe Seattle Colleges' mask/face covering requirements while indoors on any of our campuses. They must also follow the current procedures for entering campus/on-campus activities.
 

Requirements 
All students are required to report their vaccination status or file an exemption. Students who do not report their vaccination status or file an exemption will not be permitted to register for Fall Quarter 2022 classes until they report their status or file an exemption.

If you are continuing from Spring Quarter or Summer Quarter and have already completed the attestation, you do not need to report your vaccination status again.

Privacy
This information will be kept private.

Report Your Vaccination Status 
You can report your status now using ctcLink. 

  1. Login to ctclink at https://gateway.ctclink.us
  2. Select your student homepage from the menu in ctcLink.
  3. Select the Immunization Attestation tile, enter your information, and hit the submit button.

Note: If the Immunization Attestation tile does not appear, clear the web browser cache, close the browser, and then reopen the browser. Or login to ctcLink in a different web browser, such as Chrome or Firefox, to see if that fixes the issue. Contact the IT Help Desk if you encounter problems with ctcLink.

Exemptions for Medical and Religious Reasons
The governor’s proclamation permits Seattle Colleges to provide exemptions for medical/disability-related reasons and sincerely held religious beliefs. Those are options students may select in the attestation process (see Report Your Vaccination Status above). Students seeking a medical exemption should consult with a licensed physician (CDC guidance).

The following students are exempt from the COVID-19 vaccination status reporting/attestation requirement:

  • Students who do not/will not reside in Washington (WA) state while enrolled in all online classes, i.e. international and other students residing out of state.
    (Note, this does NOT exempt WA residents taking online courses at Seattle Colleges.)
  • Off-site (at non-college owned and operated facilities) apprenticeship students. 
    (Note, this does NOT exempt apprenticeship students attending instruction at Seattle Colleges campuses and facilities.)

Getting Vaccinated
COVID-19 vaccine is always free, no insurance required. Most pharmacies, clinics, and public health centers now offer drop-in COVID-19 vaccination with no appointment needed. Get the facts about COVID19 vaccines. Find information about free vaccinations at Vaccinate WA and the King County Vaccination Pop-Ups Schedule

Each of our colleges may host additional free pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics. Details will be provided when available.

Requirements
Governor Inslee has issued a proclamation that requires Seattle Colleges employees – faculty, staff, and student workers – to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment and that an employee’s proof of vaccination be verified by Seattle Colleges. Employees have until Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, to become fully vaccinated or receive exemption approval.

Gov. Jay Inslee has directed his cabinet agencies to implement policies to require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. More information on this is below

At this time, current employees are not required to have recommended boosters, though current exempt and non-represented employees will need to be boosted consistently with CDC recommendations by July 1, 2023. In addition, during 2023–2025 successor bargaining occurring this summer, the governor has directed that management pursue a policy requiring currently represented employees to be up-to-date on their COVID-19 vaccination, including any boosters recommended by the CDC.

Privacy
The Human Resources team will be handling vaccination verification for Seattle Colleges. This information will be kept private, like all employee medical information received by Seattle Colleges.

Report and Verify Your Vaccination Status
Employees will need to verify their vaccination status with Human Resources at Seattle Colleges. Learn more.

Exemptions
The governor’s proclamation permits Seattle Colleges to provide exemptions/accommodations for medical/disability-related reasons and sincerely held religious beliefs. Employees will need to file a form with Human Resources. Learn more.

Getting Vaccinated
Get the facts about COVID19 vaccines. Find information about free vaccinations at Vaccinate WA and the King County Vaccination Pop-Ups Schedule.

Each of our colleges is looking to host additional free pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics. Details will be provided when available.

Requirements

Contractors, vendors, educational partners, and their workers are required to confirm proof of COVID19 vaccination status or request an accommodation (and be approved) by Oct. 18, 2021.

Below is the mandate announcement requesting verification from contractors, vendors, and educational partners and the form they need to submit.

Completed forms should be submitted to craig.bush@seattlecolleges.edu.

NOTE: contractors, educational partners, and their workers must observe Seattle Colleges' mask/face covering requirements while indoors on any of our campuses. They must also follow the current procedures for entering campus/on-campus activities.

Requirements
The governor's proclamation does not require visitors and short-term guests to be fully vaccinated.

NOTE: all visitors and guests must observe Seattle Colleges' mask/face covering requirements while indoors on any of our campuses. They must also follow the current procedures for entering campus/on-campus activities.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from Students

In the interests of everyone's health and safety, Seattle Colleges has chosen to be a fully vaccinated campus per Governor Inslee’s higher education proclamation. This requires all students, staff, and faculty to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. An individual is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the final dose of the vaccine. Exemptions to this requirement may be granted for medical or sincerely held religious reasons.

Refer to the step-by-step directions in the "Students" accordion box in the section above the FAQs section on this web page.

To confirm your response was saved, navigate to your ctcLink homepage and click on the Immunization Attestation tile again.

If the COVID-19 vaccination attestation form in ctcLink still looks like the image below, with no information in the immunization field, and the "I Agree" options boxes are white and say "No," your attestation has not been submitted.

Not Submitted

screen capture of ctcLink vax attestation "not submitted"

 

If the immunization fields have information in them and the "I Agree" options boxes are green and say "Yes" and you’ve clicked “Submit”, your attestation has been submitted.

Submitted

screen capture of ctcLink vax attestation "submitted"

NOTE: The form will not allow you to leave the page without clicking "Submit." If you try to leave before submitting, you will receive the notification “Do you want to save your changes?" Click "Yes" to go back and save, "No" to disregard your changes.”

screen capture of ctcLink vax attestation "do you want to save?"

Once you have submitted your response you should see a message at the top of the page indicated that it has been submitted successfully.

screen capture of ctcLink vax attestation "submitted successfully"

Note: this submission message only appears briefly. Because of this some students may not see it. Additionally, pop-up blockers will not permit it to show.

Yes, all students attending Seattle Colleges, regardless of whether they attend in-person or online, are required to report their vaccination status by completing the attestation in ctcLink. This must be done in order to register for Fall Quarter.

Students who do not report their status/complete the attestation will be blocked from registering for Fall Quarter. If your registration is blocked, the hold can be removed after you report your status/complete the attestation. Note, it can take up to 12 to 24 hours for the hold to be removed.

New incoming students will also be required to report their vaccination status/complete the attestation before being able to register for classes.

You will be asked to enter your vaccination information and dates as part of the reporting/attestation process in ctcLink. At this time, students are not required per the governor’s proclamation to show documentation of vaccination, such as their vaccination card. It may be required in the future. 
 
Please be aware that knowingly providing incorrect information when reporting your status/completing the attestation is a violation of the student conduct code (WAC 132F-121-110, Item 5).

Yes. Work-study students, if you have completed your vaccination verification with Human Resources, you still need to report your status/complete the attestation through ctcLink. 

If you have already completed the attestation for Winter, Spring, or Summer Quarter 2022, you do not need to complete the process again in order to register for Fall Quarter 2022. New or returning students who have not completed the attestation will need to do so before they can register for Fall Quarter 2022.

The drop-down menu in the immunization attestation tile includes a selection for “Other COVID-19 Vaccine”.  Select this option and enter the date or dates you were vaccinated.

screen capture of ctcLink vax attestation "other vaccine"
 

Please submit your attestation with the most current information you have.

As a fully vaccinated campus per the governor's proclamation, Seattle Colleges is asking all students to report/attest they are fully vaccinated or file an exemption in order to register for Fall Quarter.

If you do not report you are fully vaccinated, a hold will be placed on your account until you report your status/complete the attestation. Once you have reported your vaccination status the registration hold will be removed within one business day.

A process is in place where qualified college staff will check if you have reported your status/completed the attestation for the purposes of applying or removing a hold on your ability to register. Once you have reported your vaccination status the registration hold will be removed within one business day.

You will not be allowed to register for Fall Quarter classes if you do not report your vaccination status or file an exemption by completing the attestation in ctcLink.
 

Reminders have been sent to all students but are intended for those who have not yet reported their status.

If you have already reported your COVID-19 vaccination status in ctcLink, nothing more is required at this time and you can disregard the reminder.