Alabama Covid 19 Prison Vaccinations

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

The world was hit by an unexpected pandemic which began towards the end of 2019, in Wuhan, China, and spread throughout the rest of the world, resulting in 210,322,264 cases of infection all over and 4,410,437 deaths. In the United States alone, there have been 36,777,391 cases of the virus infection with 617,628 deaths.

All over the world, the statistics say that 2 in every 100 persons have had the coronavirus virus, in the United States the number is 9 out of every 100, one of the situations that call for concern in the eyes of the world. For inmates residents in the penitentiaries across the country, the story is even more fatal. It is recorded that persons in prison facilities are infected at a rate that is five times more than the overall rate of the nation with 34 out of every 100 persons said to have contracted the virus. It has also been opined that the rate may be higher but unrecorded due to a limited number of testing being done in the prisons.

Thankfully, the introduction of the different covid-19 vaccines has brought a sigh of relief for the world at large. Currently, in the United States, a total of 355,480,412 vaccines have been administered. Three vaccines have been authorized and recommended for use in the United States including the Pfizer BioNTech, the Moderna, and the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen.

The administration of the vaccines is being done with the confidence that the potential benefits of the vaccine are greater when compared with the known and potential risks.

In Alabama, there have been a total of 645,851 cases and 11,872 deaths (the nation’s 17th most affected state) indicating that this is one of the worst-hit states. The spike in the number of increasing cases of the virus infection from July 6th, 2021 till August 12th, 2021 led to a declaration of a state of emergency on August 13th, 2021 by the Governor. The state in response to the pandemic received a total of 5,372,625 doses of the Vaccine and has administered 3,737,994 doses.

As a result of the seriousness of the spread of the pandemic, its terminal effect, and the slow pace of the vaccinations in the state, the State Prisons began offering incentives of $5 canteen credit to inmates while also encouraging and authorizing facility wardens to provide other inducements to make their staff and inmate take the vaccine. This is coming as the Governor had initially opposed the use of incentives to make people take the vaccine, she instead submitted that common sense alone should be enough reason for people to want to be vaccinated.

The dangers of the spread of the pandemic in prison facilities have raised concerns in the minds of the authorities especially with the occurrence of prisoner transfer, as well as the absence of adequate testing resources and personal protective equipment. The inhibition exhibited by the inmates towards receiving the vaccine has also added to the height of the concern.

There have been several cases where the minimal presence of the virus in a prison facility has resulted in an outbreak despite the use of personal protective equipment and nose masks. The studies have also shown that there has been a dilly dally in taking the vaccine due to the need for more information on the effectiveness or the safety of the vaccine. A minimal number of inmates have cited reasons such as the distrust of the healthcare system or their perceived invincibility to the risk.

Other factors that give rise to the increase in cases of the virus among prison residents and staff include the underlying medical conditions which makes the virus even more fatal, delays in diagnosis, inadequate treatment, the unsanitary conditions and other situations provide the necessary and adequate environment for the growth and spread of the virus. This has made the prisons to become one of the most dangerous places to be during the pandemic.

At a prison facility in Ohio despite their ingenious methods of quarantining themselves, four in five inmates were affected, and at another detention center, almost all the inmates were infected by the virus.

The Pandemic on its part brought to light certain loopholes in the country’s correction system among which some of them are:

The overcrowded nature of the prisons in the country makes it difficult for social distancing to be applied to reduce the spread of the virus.
The medical conditions of the people in prison especially for older categories of inmates are such that the presence of the virus and its attack on persons with underlying medical conditions puts the senior residents of these incarceration facilities in jeopardy.
Persons undergoing trials who were left for an extended period in county jails during the pendency of the pandemic were placed at risk also revealing the need to provide adequate medical care facilities in jails to avoid a spread of the pandemic.
The pandemic also raised the need for the authorities to begin to x-ray the need for the release of the most vulnerable members of the detention facilities.

The danger of the pandemic to the country and especially to persons who work and reside in correctional facilities should be emphasized and re-emphasized as well as more information on the spread, and the effectiveness of the vaccine should be brought to the public knowledge to encourage more inmates to take the vaccine and reduce the number of lives at risk in prison facilities all over the country.

In addition, the intervention of the authorities, coupled with increased testing of both staff and inmates should be done to reduce the origination and spread of the coronavirus infection. The strict adherence to the CDC guidelines as it relates to prisoner interaction in the period of the Covid virus should be encouraged to help mitigate the dangers facing the individuals housed by the prison facility.