Story at a glance
- The state’s Department of Public Safety says 1,000 of the 1,300 Moderna vaccine doses allocated for the prison system this week arrived Wednesday.
- Vaccinations will be made available to prison health care staff, staff who work in COVID-19-positive housing units or work with COVID-19-positive inmates, as well as inmates age 75 or older.
- Based on supply, eligibility will be opened to inmates aged 65 and older.
North Carolina began vaccinating prison staff and inmates Wednesday morning after the state’s prison system received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine.
The state’s Department of Public Safety says 1,000 of the 1,300 Moderna vaccine doses allocated for the prison system this week arrived Wednesday with the rest expected to show up within the coming days. Around 14,000 staff work in state prisons with 29,000 inmates. Four prisons are serving as regional delivery hubs for distribution.
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Vaccinations will be made available to prison health care staff, staff who work in COVID-positive housing units or work with COVID-positive inmates, as well as inmates age 75 or older. Based on supply, eligibility will be opened to inmates aged 65 and older.
While some staff have already been vaccinated through local health departments, these doses will be the first to be administered by prison health care staff.
“I urge everyone to get vaccinated,” Todd Ishee, commissioner of prisons, said in a statement, as vaccines are voluntary.
“This is our best shot to protect the health and safety of our colleagues and their families as well as the men and women in our custody. Science has thrown us a lifeline. Everyone should grab ahold,” Ishee said.
Prisons across the country have been hit hard by the raging pandemic. More than 355,000 cases have been reported among inmates nationwide with 2,087 deaths, according to UCLA’s COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project.
According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, more than 8,400 inmates have tested positive in the state’s prisons over the duration of the pandemic and 12 are currently hospitalized. The prison system currently has 381 active cases.
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