US Federal Bureau of Prisons Administers COVID-19 Vaccines to Inmates

Federal Correctional Institution Terre Haute, Indiana, USA
Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has changed its policy of "staff-first vaccination" and decided to administer COVID-19 vaccines to inmates as well.

According to the Associated Press on the 22nd (local time), the BOP announced that "COVID-19 vaccines will be administered to some high-risk inmates." Justin Long, a BOP spokesperson, stated, "It has been confirmed that high-risk inmates in several federal prisons across the country have already been vaccinated," releasing this position.

This marks a change from the BOP's previous stance, which had sparked controversy over "discrimination against inmates." Internal prison documents obtained by the AP last month detailed a policy of "prioritizing the vaccine supply for prison staff." This was criticized by some as inappropriate, given that the number of COVID-19 positive inmates far exceeds that of staff. Due to the prison structure, inmates find it difficult to practice social distancing, making them more vulnerable to infection.

However, spokesperson Long did not answer questions regarding which prisons and how many inmates have been vaccinated, nor the criteria defining the "high-risk" group eligible for vaccination.

Meanwhile, the BOP has been struggling for months to contain the spread of COVID-19 in federal prisons nationwide. According to federal statistics, as of this date, 5,929 inmates and 1,620 staff members in federal prisons across the country have tested positive for COVID-19. Since March of this year, a total of 171 federal prison inmates have died from COVID-19.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.