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January 22, 2021
Science has demonstrated that large gatherings of
people in close proximity to one another can be a breeding ground for COVID-19.
The phenomenon known in coronavirus nomenclature as a “superspreader event,”
has the potential to sicken large swaths of people.
A well-documented study from the state of Washington
examined a single choir practice consisting of 61 choir members wherein a
single infected member caused 32 confirmed infections and 20 additional
probable cases.
These hot spots were targeted from the earliest days
of the pandemic. Nursing homes, sporting events, religious services, indoor
dining have been restricted, locked down or closed. Facilities where people
congregate or live - often with little or no mitigation measures such as
wearing personal protective equipment or keeping socially distanced have been
universally recognized as potentially life-threatening.
Yet with similar or worse conditions in the nation’s
jails, prisons and detention centers, criminal justice policy makers continue
to warehouse inmates. According to NPR, the 2.3 million people incarcerated in
the U.S. are nearly five times as likely to test positive for COVID-19 as
Americans generally and nearly three times as likely to die.
There have been outbreaks at more than 850 jails and
prisons in the country, putting many prisoners incarcerated in the U.S. at risk
of infection. Dr. Ross MacDonald, chief physician of New York’s Rikers Island,
told TIME in March simply that, “the right preventive measures don’t exist to
stop the spread of this virus in (jail and prison facilities)” - 10 months
later prison mitigation measures have not improved.
Prisoners live in crowded unsanitary spaces, sharing
bathrooms and dining halls where social distancing is impossible. Many inmates
have conditions like asthma, diabetes and heart disease - making them
particularly vulnerable to the effects of the virus.
To complicate things, mental health problems are
rampant in correctional facilities. This makes mask wearing and social
distancing virtually impossible.
No one questions whether health care workers who
treat COVID-19 patients should be first in line for vaccines. Other
high-priority groups include residents and employees of long-term care
facilities, essential workers, the old and infirm.
According to a recent nationwide analysis by PEW’s
Stateline, state plans for administering vaccines in prisons found wide
variations among the states. According to a recent study by the Prison Policy
Initiative, a nonprofit research and advocacy group, at least 38 states
addressed incarcerated people in their vaccine plans, but most of those states
prioritized prison staff over incarcerated people, and 11 states appeared to
have no plans for the incarcerated.
“In terms of public health risks and priorities, I
think this is straightforward public health assessment and response,” Dr.
Thomas Inglesby, director of Johns Hopkins’ Center for Health Security told
NPR. “All the conditions that we think about in terms of trying to control
COVID, they’re all moving in the wrong direction in these facilities. They are
basically the perfect conditions for superspreading events.”
Should prisoners and other detainees be given
priority access to COVID-19 vaccines?
New Jersey has begun vaccinating inmates and staff
at the state’s largest correctional facility. Seven states - Connecticut,
Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Mexico and Pennsylvania - have
designated inmates “Phase One” recipients for vaccines, according to the
Stateline.
Obviously, the question of when inmates will receive
the vaccine is a mixed bag. According to NPR, states and agencies that control
distribution “face political pressure from a general public that has
historically been unsympathetic to the health of incarcerated people.”
If Americans are going to accept the science that
vaccines are a smart and effective way to deal with COVID-19, they must be
willing to accept the science when it comes to who should get the vaccine and
when.
Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George
P.C. His book “The Executioner’s Toll, 2010” was released by McFarland
Publishing. You can reach him at www.mattmangino.com and
follow him on Twitter at @MatthewTMangino.
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