More Harm Than Good : Most Pennsylvania Prisoners Are Vaxxed, But Isolating COVID Rules Remain wesa.fm - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wesa.fm Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Accessing a COVID-19 vaccine is easy for most Pennsylvanians, unless you are incarcerated in a county jail.
For them there is a roughly 50/50 chance at getting the shot, more than two months after that high-risk population became eligible for them, according to a Philadelphia group that advocates for the humane treatment of inmates.
The Pennsylvania Prison Society last week said that it has only been able to confirm that 30 out of the state s 63 county jails have provided immunization opportunities to inmates and corrections staff.
The other counties are vaccinating only corrections staff or did not respond to information requests, according to the Prison Society.
AP
In this Tuesday, April 13, 2010 photo, a solitary corrections officer looks out from a tower at one corner of the state prison in Camp Hill, Pa.
Five Western Pennsylvania facilities, including SCI Laurel Highlands and Cambridge Springs, will reopen to in-person visitors over the course of the next week, more than a year after the program was shut down due to COVID-19. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said the change in policy marks a move toward more normal operations, though officials warn it may still be a while before incarcerated people can see family.
“Maintaining connections with loved ones is very important for incarcerated individuals, in-person visitation is a big part of that,” DOC press secretary Maria Bivens said in an emailed statement. “At the same time, COVID remains a threat – particularly in congregate settings like prisons – so we are reinstating visitation in a calculated manner that protects the health of everyone involved.”
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Visits must be scheduled online three days in advance, and Secretary of Corrections John Wetzel conceded that time slots will be limited and demand will be high to start. Video visits remain an option.
Visitors will be screened with a covid-19 questionnaire and temperature check, and all incarcerated individuals and all visitors over the age of 2 will be given a disposable face mask. Social distancing will be enforced.
“By design, our mitigation efforts are stronger than what may be in place in the general public because it is critically important to keep covid out of our facilities to the greatest extent possible,” Wetzel said.