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Coronavirus outbreaks in prisons and prisons in the United States have been rampant, but inmates have been overlooked as policymakers determine who should be prioritized for vaccinations.
Inmates in US prisons and prisons have been largely left behind as the country rolls out its first round of COVID-19 vaccines. Experts and public health advocates have pushed states and the federal government to make this vulnerable population a priority.
More than 1.3 million people are incarcerated in the United States. A follow-up project has reported over 270,000 cases and over 1,700 deaths in the prison system since April.
Inmates are twice as likely to die from the coronavirus as the general population, and 19 of the top 20 hot spots in the United States are inside prisons, according to the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice. Poor living conditions and overcrowding have exacerbated the problem.
“They have been the source of so many cases because they are a confined population, because they cannot make social separation,” Dr William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine and health policy, told DW. at Vanderbilt University. “These are high risk circumstances.”
Health experts warn that the consequences could be dire if nothing is done to alleviate infections among inmates. The American Medical Association has recommended that inmates and prison officers “should be given priority to gain access” to vaccines during the first phase of vaccines.
Still, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory committee in mid-December did not recommend including inmates in the initial phase. The federal government has largely left state governments to themselves in determining how to distribute vaccines.
“The federal government has mismanaged this process, including expanding logistics,” said Ryan King, director of research and policy at the Justice Policy Institute. “It was preventable… there was a lack of real federal leadership.
Public counter game
A handful of states have added prisoners and staff to the first level of candidates, but most have not made them a priority.
In Colorado, health officials had recommended that prisoners be part of the second tier of vaccine recipients. This prompted a reaction from state Republicans and the conservative media.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis changed course at the start of December, saying, “There is no way prisoners can get it before members of a vulnerable population.
Civil rights advocates fear that as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, more politicians are giving in to public pressure because vaccines and resources are limited.
“Science should dictate this, not politics,” says Denise Maes, director of public policy at the Colorado ACLU. “Science tells us we need to start vaccinations in prisons.”
Dangerous prisons
Prisons are also particularly risky. They hold suspects for short periods – sometimes only for hours – before returning them to their communities, possibly exposed to infected people.
“The conditions of detention are increased because of the number of people coming in and out,” King said. “They come from the most risky environments.”
Correctional staff and inmates are also constantly moved to balance the size of the population and in so doing come into contact with people outside the prison walls.
State prisons across the country are failing to take the necessary steps to protect the public, prisoners or staff, according to DeAnna Hoskins, president and CEO of JustLeadership USA, an organization focused on prison population reduction.
“They transfer prisoners from one establishment to another. They don’t test them, ”she said. “It’s a very common situation.”
After a major coronavirus outbreak in San Quentin prison in San Francisco in late May, the U.S. appeals court ordered the facility to reduce its population to 1,700, or by half.
Some states have decided to thin their prison populations in hopes of creating more space to allow for social distancing. The authorities release prisoners who are either near the end of their sentence or who do not pose a threat to the community.
In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy released more than 2,000 inmates in November to reduce the spread of the coronavirus there.
Stuck in cells
Prisons face another ethical dilemma as coronavirus deaths escalate and impose lockdowns to limit interactions between inmates and staff. Civil rights activists say isolating people for long periods of time punishes them for something that is not their fault and essentially creates a prison within a prison.
“They are stuck in their cells, and this is creating a serious situation,” Maes says. “They don’t have tours, outdoor activities or cafeteria time and that cannot be sustained.”
Hoskins said the prisoners were afraid. They get sick and are afraid of dying. It is “like a building on fire” that they are stuck inside without any help, she said.
Vaccines could alleviate these problems, if prisoners could get them. Advocates say handling the virus in the corrections system adds unnecessary stress and burdens to inmates’ lives and violates their rights as human beings.
“You are doomed to jail, not to die,” King said.
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