It is no secret that healthcare workers all over the world have been significantly affected by the SARS CoV-2 pandemic, in both caring for COVID-19 patients and being patients themselves. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), healthcare workers account for 1 in 7 reported COVID-19 cases globally.

SARS-CoV-2, like other coronaviruses, mutates and produces variant strains as it spreads to susceptible hosts. The longer we go with suboptimal vaccination coverage and insufficient herd immunity in Washington state, the United States, and the rest of the world, the more opportunity for variants of concern to spread, and potentially, for different variants of concern to emerge.