Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • NPR

    Correctional Facilities Are COVID-19 Hot Spots. Why Don't They Get Vaccine Priority?

    Prisons, jails and detention centers have much higher coronavirus case and fatality rates than the general public. But attitudes toward inmates mean bank tellers may get vaccinated before they do.
    by Becky Sullivan Dec 24, 2020 6 minutes
    In March of 2020, Robbie Dennis was transferred to the Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola. The CDC first recommended that Americans wear masks on April 3; prisoners at Angola didn't receive them until June or July, Dennis says.

    The equation for COVID-19 hot spots has been clear since the earliest days of the pandemic: Take facilities where people live in close quarters, then add conditions that make it hard to take preventative measures like wearing PPE or keeping socially distant.

    Major outbreaks in nursing homes this spring shocked the nation. Now, residents of those facilities are among the first in line for the vaccine.

    Similar conditions plague the nation's jails, prisons and detention centers, where massive outbreaks continue. The 2.3 million people incarcerated in the U.S. are nearly five times as likely to test positive for coronavirus as Americans generally and nearly three times as likely to die, after adjusting for age and sex.

    But the question of when inmates will receive the vaccine remains wide open. Experts say that's because the states and agencies that control distribution face political pressure from a general public that has historically been unsympathetic to the health of incarcerated people.

    "In terms of public health risks and priorities, I think

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from NPR

    NPR3 min readAmerican Government
    A Michigan Grassroots Effort Is Raising Reparations, While The Government Lags
    The year 2020 was a turning point for Lansing, Michigan resident Willye Bryan. Between the racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd and the health disparities that hit the African American community during the pandemic, she knew it was t
    NPR2 min readAmerican Government
    Majorie Taylor Greene Is Planning A Vote Next Week To Oust Speaker Johnson
    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., says she will follow through on her threat to hold a vote to oust Speaker Mike Johnson sometime next week, despite signs that her effort will fail.
    NPR2 min read
    Walmart Says It Will Close Its 51 Health Centers And Virtual Care Service
    The Arkansas-based company said that after managing the clinics it launched in 2019 and expanding its telehealth program, it concluded "there is not a sustainable business model for us to continue."

    Related Books & Audiobooks