CLEVELAND — Prisons have become a hotbed of coronavirus spread in many parts of Ohio, causing the governor to offer the National Guard to help with security. But when will those in jails get vaccinated and how will that work?

 

What You Need To Know

  • Several corrections officers and other staff are out sick due to COVID-19

  • The American Civil Liberties Union is pushing for inmates to be vaccinated early

  • The governor is still working on a plan for how and when inmates and prison staff will be vaccinated

COVID-19 cases are rapidly rising in prisons across the nation and right here in Ohio.

“Some of them are scared out of their minds. There’s been sickness, there’s been an inability to socially isolate or isolate. They don’t feel that they have adequate means to pay for hygiene. It’s very, very difficulty. They’re scared," said Freda Levenson, the legal director for the ACLU of Ohio.

The ACLU of Ohio has represented inmates in the Buckeye State. The organization recently wrote a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine urging him to include incarcerated people in the same vaccine tier as all others living in congregate living situations. Levenson said it’s not just a moral decision, but also one to protect from community spread.

“Prisons and jails incubate and cede the virus back into the general community. There’s movement of people, this which also causes risk. Prisons and jails have high churn rates. People are transferred among facilities, they’re booked in and out. Prisoners are admitted or prisoners are let out, and of course, guards and staff come in and out every day.”

At the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center, the sheriff recently released all inmates sentenced and awaiting sentencing for misdemeanors except those sentenced for domestic violence to slow the spread of COVID-19.

As of Wednesday according to county data, out of 1,356 inmates at the jail, 295 currently have COVID, while 67 with COVID have been released from custody and 576 are currently in exposure isolation. The spread of COVID-19 has also affected the health of corrections officers. The county will accept DeWine’s offer for the National Guard to assist with security. The governor said he’s concerned about prison staff.

"You know, I’m in the process of writing notes to two families who lost a loved one, worked for the state of Ohio, worked for the people of Ohio and work in our prisons and they got COVID. So, you know, our heart goes out to them. And so, those workers in the prisons are certainly going to be a high priority when we look to the next ranking,” DeWine said at a recent press conference.  

The ACLU said six states have already committed to including those incarcerated in phase one of the vaccine process. That includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska and New Mexico.

But in Ohio, DeWine said the state is still in the process of determining when and how those in jails and staff will be vaccinated.

“You try to weigh these things out, and there’s many things that you are concerned about. One is saving human lives. That’s important. The other is spread in the community. So those are two different, two different criteria that frankly are both very, very important. And, you know, we’ll, we’ll have to make those decisions.”

But the ACLU will keep arguing for those incarcerated to get the vaccine as soon as possible.

"Prisons are tinder boxes for infectious disease and the people that are confined there are particularly vulnerable to getting the most serious and grave forms of  COVID if they get it,” said Levenson. “So, it’s been tough. Very, very tough.”