Some inmates, prison staffers wary of vaccine By: Keaton Ross Oklahoma Watch January 12, 2021
A health care worker fills a syringe with the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine. (Photo by Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch)
Oklahoma inmates are experiencing their own version of pandemic fatigue.
The Corrections Department has limited inmate movement and enforced a mask mandate for staff members and prisoners since April. A systemwide lockdown prompted by gang fights at the three male prisons in late November has added an additional layer of restrictions over the past several weeks.
A successful COVID-19 vaccination effort could reduce cases and deaths and allow the return of family visitation and in-person classes. Shipments of the vaccine should start arriving at prisons, jails and other congregate living facilities by the end of the month, state deputy health commissioner Keith Reed told Oklahoma Watch in an email.
Whitney Bryen / Oklahoma Watch
Oklahoma inmates are experiencing their own version of pandemic fatigue.
The corrections department has limited inmate movement and enforced a mask mandate for staff and prisoners since April. A systemwide lockdown prompted by gang fights at the three male prisons in late November has added an additional layer of restrictions over the past several weeks.
A successful COVID-19 vaccination effort could reduce cases and deaths and allow the return of family visitation and in-person classes. Shipments of the vaccine should start arriving at prisons, jails and other congregate living facilities by the end of the month, state deputy health commissioner Keith Reed told
Keri Thornton | Daily Press
Cherokee County Detention Center Supervisor Sylvia Holmes walks through the booking process and explains how fingerprints are done at the jail.
News that a 75-year sentence for a notorious convicted murder from Cherokee County recently expired raised controversy, and District Attorney Jack Thorp provided a more in-depth explanation as to how that can happen.
Sentence expirations occur when an inmate has reached his maximum court sentence, minus credit for time served. Inmates are released without terms of community supervision.
Thorp said an expired sentence is a term of years that s been modified for parole eligibility. He said the expiration of lengthy sentences is not uncommon, since individuals don t want additional supervision upon release.