HARRISBURG â A delayed upgrade to the state Department of Correctionsâ dashboard on COVID-19 rates in prisons has revealed that more than 80% of correctional staff and officers who work in prisons are not vaccinated, or have not reported their status.
The percentage is far lower than the general public â according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of all American adults have received at least one shot, which is similar to the number of incarcerated people in Pennsylvania who have gotten one.
The department relaunched its public-facing data last week with updated vaccine numbers, one month after its self-imposed deadline. Spotlight PA revealed in January that its data was unreliable, prompting the dashboard to be temporarily removed for an overhaul.
Workers in Pa. prisons, COVID-19 hotspots, aren’t getting vaccinated. Here’s why that’s dangerous.
Today 5:05 AM
State Corrections Secretary John Wetzel received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine earlier this month and recorded it to encourage staff and those incarcerated to do the same.
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By Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA
HARRISBURG A delayed upgrade to the state Department of Corrections’ dashboard on COVID-19 rates in prisons has revealed that more than 80% of correctional staff and officers who work in prisons are not vaccinated, or have not reported their status.
The percentage is far lower than the general public according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of all American adults have received at least one shot, which is similar to the number of incarcerated people in Pennsylvania who have gotten one.
Approximately one-fifth of prison staffers have reported being vaccinated, far less than the roughly half of those incarcerated in Pennsylvania facilities.