Inmates need priority access to coronavirus vaccine, WADA says



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The American Medical Association (AMA) has called for more stringent disease mitigation measures in the country’s penitentiary and immigrant detention facilities, and called on correctional officers, incarcerated persons and detained immigrants to be included in the initial stages of the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen the virus spread rapidly in high density populations, especially in penitentiaries,” said Ilse R. Levin, member of the board of directors of DO , MPH, TM and AMA, in a statement on Tuesday. “Due to the high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among incarcerated people and staff in correctional and detention centers, WADA is advocating for increased infection control measures, additional PPE and access priority for vaccines to prevent the spread of COVID. 19. Being incarcerated or detained should not be synonymous with being left totally vulnerable to COVID-19. These steps are vital to protect people and stop the spread of the virus. “

The new policy calls on all correctional and immigration detention facilities to implement guidelines for the prevention and control of coronavirus infections, provide access to personal protective equipment, test kits, and sanitize and disinfect equipment and to “ensure safe and humane quarantine protocols for anyone who tests positive or is exposed.” to SARS-CoV-2. “

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No decision has been made on who will be the first to receive the coronavirus vaccine once a candidate is approved by the FDA. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently working to make recommendations on distribution based on input from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a federal advisory committee made up of medical experts and public health.

The committee defined four groups to consider for early vaccination, including healthcare workers, workers in critical and critical industries, people at high risk of severe COVID-19 illness due to underlying medical conditions and people 65 and over.

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Critical critical infrastructure workers include those working in communications, chemicals, critical manufacturing, dams, defense industrial base, emergency services, commercial facilities, finance, energy, food and agriculture, government facilities, nuclear reactors, materials and waste, information technology, water, transportation systems, health care and public health.

WADA calls on prisoners to be among the first beneficiaries of the vaccine is reminiscent of other so-called “multi-level” distribution plans. An implementation by the United States National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine called for including prisoners and people living in homeless shelters in “phase 3” of a plan for the homeless. distribution in five phases, ranking after health workers and first responders, and those with underlying health conditions that put them at risk of serious illness or death and the elderly living in densely populated settings.

WADA also requests that expanded data reporting include testing rates and demographic breakdown of cases, as well as support for policies that facilitate humanitarian publications. The group said it will work with “the appropriate stakeholders” to develop criteria for humanitarian rejections.

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“Since physicians are required to determine the medical eligibility of potential compassionate release candidates, it is essential that the eligibility criteria be clear to physicians so that they feel comfortable with determine if someone meets the criteria without fear of liability, ”Levin said.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), there are currently 3,048 federal inmates and more than 1,113 employees with confirmed COVID-19. More than 18,000 inmates and 1,677 staff have recovered from the virus, and the deaths of 141 federal inmates and two staff members have been attributed to the disease.

Since the end of March, 17,332 inmates with risk factors for COVID-19 and deemed eligible have been placed in house arrest. Four of the detainee deaths occurred in the home confinement group.

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