Does Louisiana vaccinate prisoners before others?It’s a nasty problem in the US | Coronavirus

Earlier this month, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards was asked about the state’s plans to vaccinate prison inmates against the coronavirus. The coronavirus killed people imprisoned in the United States at a rate 45% higher than the general population.

“We haven’t reached that step yet,” Edwards said. “We can’t tell you the order of priority for all specific groups in Louisiana until you’ve finished vaccination.”

However, the state is approaching a more detailed roadmap, and this week’s inmate advocates argued that prisoners should receive high priority due to their dense districts and high case fatality rates. ..

According to the Department of Public Security, 31 prisoners in Louisiana prisons died of COVID-19 in 2020. This contributes to the overall higher overall prison deaths than in 2016 and beyond, despite the declining prison population.

Five state prison personnel died of COVID-19.

Thousands of COVID-19 cases have been reported in various detention centers in Louisiana, from federal and state prisons to rural prisons. One of the recent outbreaks occurred in a juvenile detention center in New Orleans. Earlier this month, eight young people and twelve staff reported COVID-19 positivity.

Numbers like these have led supporters and relatives to claim the release of prisoners early in the pandemic. Currently, they insist on prompt vaccination.

“They are packed there. They can’t escape. Their lives are threatened. It would be great if they could be vaccinated,” said Alfred, the prisoner’s father.・ McKnight said. “It’s easy to hit criminals. Nobody likes them. But in reality, I think the social measure is how to treat the weakest ones.”

Vaccine scramble

Prisoners are just one of many groups joking for a location near the top of the vaccination list, with vaccine restrictions expected to last until summer. But unlike grocery workers, retirees, or young people with other medical problems, the idea of ​​vaccination of prisoners before others is more controversial.

Political disputes over where to place prisoners are already burning in other states. Colorado Governor Jared Polis recently said prisoners would not receive bullets in front of healthy elderly people. “There is no way for prisoners to get it in front of vulnerable people,” Police said. “There is no way to go to prisoners before going to those who are not committing crimes. That is clear.”

The location of detainees in Louisiana for vaccination campaigns can be left to the Vaccination Implementation Advisory Board, an ambiguous committee within the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This was to develop guidelines on which groups should be prioritized and to meet on Sunday to vote for guidelines for the next stage of vaccine distribution. Edwards said on December 2 that he would strictly follow the panel’s recommendations.

Currently, the Louisiana Draft Vaccination Playbook places prisoners in a layer with grocery store clerks and school teachers, in front of an “open access” layer for those who want a shot. Prison prisoners have a lower priority than prison guards and residents of other “collective medicine” environments such as group homes, psychiatric detention centers, and adult detention centers.

Louisiana’s rankings prioritize inmates who are at least lower than the other seven states, but comparable to the other 18 states. According to the Prison Policy Initiative..

Dozens of dead

Edwards didn’t use as sharp a word as the Governor of Colorado when talking about prisoner priorities, but suggested that the death toll in Louisiana prisons was relatively low.

“Of the tens of thousands of people in prison, 31 died from COVID, and 31 more than we would like,” he said.

Nonetheless, analysis by the Associated Press and The Marshall Project found that Louisiana state-controlled prison mortality rates were 39% higher than the state’s general population.

However, the Department of Public Security Correction said the analysis should take into account thousands of additional state prisoners held in local prisons, usually managed by sheriff offices. This year, a state prisoner died in a local prison. If these lockups were included, the Louisiana mortality rate would be 12 per 10,000 prisoners. This is lower than the typical population rate of 15 per 10,000 people.

Response in dispute

Medical care in Louisiana prisons has long been criticized, and it continues during the pandemic. Louisiana prisoners released a harsh report on Tuesday condemning the Department of Corrections for “serious illegal activity” during a pandemic. Care.

“Despite all we have learned about how easy it is for the virus to spread in an aggregate environment, the state has received medical recommendations, available resources, and families of people who care for them. We will wait for and ignore the petition for help, “said the support group. She said the prisoner she represented was “sentenced to death by a terrifying virus.”

State agencies have dismissed the report as a flawed rehash of allegations contained in a proceeding dismissed by a federal judge in May.

“I am very proud of the work the staff did to manage the pandemic, both in the prison system and in the correction of the community. The result is that our plan continues to be successful. “It shows,” said Jimmy Le Blanc, director of orthodontics. “We followed the guidance of the Louisiana Department of Health and the CDC through the COVID-19 response.”

The Promise of Justice Initiative acquired the data through a request for public records. Records show that inmate deaths from all causes in state prisons have increased this year compared to last year. This reflects trends outside the prison.. In all detention centers, the number of dead state prisoners is 47% higher this year than all in 2019, at least more than any year since 2016.

The Department of Corrections claimed that 2019 was “abnormal” because of the lowest deaths of prisoners in the last five years. Authorities said the increase in 2020 would be much smaller than in previous years and would decrease in the absence of COVID-19.