Dozens killed by COVID-19 in KY prisons. Only half of prison staff seek vaccine.
Barely half of the Kentucky Department of Corrections’ 4,288 employees and contractors either have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or have a pending vaccination appointment, according to new state data.
The vaccinations are voluntary, corrections spokeswoman Lisa Lamb said Monday.
“DOC appreciates its employees for receiving the Shot of Hope and for their hard work throughout the pandemic,” Lamb said.
The employee vaccination rate of 50.9 percent follows a devastating year of COVID-19 outbreaks inside Kentucky prisons.
So far, Kentucky has reported the second-worst COVID-19 infection numbers in the nation, per capita, for state prisons, according to the nonprofit Marshall Project in New York. As of Monday, 7,883 Kentucky state inmates have been infected and 48 have died, while 1,081 corrections employees have been infected and five have died.
On Monday, the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Lyon County reported an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak with 308 actively infected inmates and 15 actively infected employees. About 88 percent of the inmate population at that prison has been infected since the pandemic began.
Critics say that, apart from the inmate deaths, it could be months or even years before the full health impact from thousands of coronavirus infections among inmates and corrections employees is known.
The ACLU of Kentucky, which unsuccessfully sued last year for more early inmate releases during the pandemic, said the state government has done too little to keep COVID-19 out of the prisons.
“From the beginning of this pandemic, the ACLU of Kentucky has called on the state to adequately protect people who live in correctional facilities from the ravages of COVID-19,” said ACLU legal fellow Aaron Tucek. “The systemic unwillingness of corrections staff to get vaccinated sadly continues this legacy of neglect and failure.”
Gov. Andy Beshear refused to allow the vaccination of any state inmates until earlier this month, when he authorized the inclusion of 170 prisoners who are age 70 and up as part of Phase 1C.
There are roughly 9,700 inmates housed in Kentucky’s 14 state prisons. An additional 8,800 state inmates are serving their felony time in local jails, where accurate data on COVID-19 infections and deaths has not been kept during the pandemic.
For the last two months, public health officials offered free vaccination clinics for state corrections employees in their communities. Classified as first responders, like police officers and firefighters, corrections employees got first dibs ahead of most other Kentuckians.
“Obviously, we know the virus doesn’t fly over the prison walls. It’s walked in and out of the facilities, so we would love to see everyone protect themselves and others by making sure that they’re not carrying it around with them,” said Oldham County public health director Matt Rhodes.
Oldham County, outside Louisville, has three state prisons that together employ nearly 1,000 people. The Oldham County Health Department held a vaccination clinic for those corrections employees on Feb. 25 with 300 available slots.
“But only 185 showed,” Rhodes said.
Overall, Oldham County saw “a good response” from first responders wanting to be vaccinated, Rhodes said. Interest in the vaccine appears to be lagging now, he added, partly because new case numbers are dropping, making the need for protection seem less urgent, and partly because people who at first faced long waits for the vaccine became discouraged and gave up.
While some people did have medical concerns about side effects from the vaccine, Rhodes said, those have largely disappeared with more than a million Kentuckians having received at least one shot without serious problems.
“People can see that it’s safe and effective,” Rhodes said.
