Rethinking Inmates’ Place In Line For The COVID-19 Vaccine

Incarcerated people are some of the most vulnerable to COVID-19. Some experts say they need to be closer to the front of the line for the vaccine.

Virus Outbreak Prison Transfers
In prisons around the country, COVID-19 outbreaks have followed transfers of prisoners or prison workers. Eric Risberg / ASSOCIATED PRESS
Virus Outbreak Prison Transfers
In prisons around the country, COVID-19 outbreaks have followed transfers of prisoners or prison workers. Eric Risberg / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Rethinking Inmates’ Place In Line For The COVID-19 Vaccine

Incarcerated people are some of the most vulnerable to COVID-19. Some experts say they need to be closer to the front of the line for the vaccine.

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not include prison and jail populations in its initial recommendation for the first recipients of the emergency COVID-19 vaccine. Some experts are pushing for a re-prioritization of this group considering their vulnerability to the virus.

Reset brings on a prison expert who says detainees should be “first in line” for the vaccine and a data journalist who’s been tracking national prison trends around the virus.

GUESTS: Jennifer Lackey, director of the Northwestern Prison Education Program

Katie Park, data journalist at the Marshall Project