State urged to move inmates to front of line for vaccines

SACRAMENTO (AP) — Attorneys representing California inmates are urging state and federal officials to advance about one of every 10 prisoners to the front of the line for Coronavirus vaccinations, saying it would help ease the burden on hospitals while helping control outbreaks inside state lockups.

They’re asking Gov. Gavin Newsom and US District Judge Jon Tigar to order the swift vaccinations of every inmate who hasn’t already been infected, starting with those who are most vulnerable.

More than 4,400 of the state’s 95,000 inmates currently have active infections, including one of every three at a Central Coast men’s prison and one of every 10 at the state’s largest women’s facility where an advocacy group says officials bungled their response.

And that’s not the worst of it, said Steve Fama, an attorney with the nonprofit Prison Law Office that represents inmates in the largest class-action settlement over prison medical conditions.

There have been about a dozen bigger outbreaks in the last month, accounting for about a third of the 167 inmate Coronavirus deaths, he said. Corrections officials said active cases peaked Dec. 20 at 10,721 systemwide.

“As much of a disaster as it was the first nine months of the pandemic, the last 30 days have far exceeded in terms of the statewide number of cases,” he said.

In that, prisons are tracking the rest of California, which has seen cases skyrocket in recent weeks, stretching hospitals and intensive care units to the breaking point.

Counties already are reporting vaccine shortages that some advocacy groups fear will worsen as the state allows shots for residents age 65 and up.

Corrections officials began vaccinating inmates before Christmas in skilled nursing facility-level housing units at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla and the state’s two medical facilities for men in Vacaville and Stockton, all in the Central Valley.

Of the 2,945 who qualified, only about 10% refused the shots, officials said.

Officials this week started vaccinating employees at all 35 state prisons under the first tier approved for the shots, with nearly 19,000 employees or about 30% getting shots so far. More than 2,600 employees are actively infected statewide and 16 have died — five of them since Christmas.