Washington Department of Corrections vaccinates high-risk inmates, prison staff

SEATTLE  — The Washington State Department of Corrections has started vaccinating some high-risk inmates and prison employees, putting them among the first recipients to receive the vaccine in the state.

Employees and inmates in a central Washington prison’s assisted-living ward, and medical staff and long-term care inmates in a Spokane County prison with the system’s largest current outbreak have been inoculated, The Seattle Times reported Tuesday.

Department officials said no general population inmates are receiving the vaccine at this time.

Questions about how to prioritize who receives the vaccine and when have been discussed across the country. Some have argued inmates are in cramped conditions that mimic those in long-term care facilities, but have been left off vaccine priority recommendations.

Washington has prioritized high-risk health care workers and long-term care residents and staff for its initial vaccination phase. Tara Lee, a spokesperson for Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee’s office, said certain prisoners and prison workers fit into those groups, but prisons “are not being prioritized.”

Staff and inmates in the assisted-living ward at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Franklin County have received the vaccine, department officials said. Vaccinations have also begun at the Spokane County Airway Heights Corrections Center, the site of the prison system’s largest outbreak.

It is unclear how many people have been vaccinated, or how many are scheduled for the current or future vaccination phases.

Department officials have reported 2,380 active COVID-19 cases among inmates at various facilities in the state as of Tuesday. Five incarcerated people have died due to the coronavirus.

The number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some — especially older adults and people with existing health problems — it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.