Coronavirus vaccines will be offered to inmates and staff in Massachusetts jails and prisons but how willing would people be to take them? A survey conducted by the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office found that most Middlesex Jail staff want the vaccine while most inmates are skeptical.
According to the survey, 80 percent of staff and 40 percent of inmates said they wanted to receive the vaccine. The other 60.17 percent of inmates said they would not initially agree to be vaccinated, but were open to either changing their minds or receiving further education on vaccination.
“At the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office, we use data every day to guide our decision-making and craft the best approaches to a host of critical issues,” said Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian. “With these baseline surveys, we can not only understand how many people are initially interested in receiving vaccinations, but how we can encourage more people to receive them through educational and informational efforts.”
The results of the survey are being used to plan an information session for inmates that would include medical experts. The inmates will take a second survey after the session to see if it changed their minds about the vaccine.
The MSO has gone nearly four months without a positive COVID-19 test. Over 160 COVID-19 tests have been done, according to the sheriff’s office.
Governor Charlie Baker announced on Wednesday that people living and working in “congregate care settings” will be eligible to receive the COVID-19, which includes prisons and jails.
“Understanding vaccine willingness and hesitancy in both employees and incarcerated individuals is the first crucial step in successfully operationalizing COVID-19 vaccination in the jails,” said Dr. Alysse Wurcel, a Tufts Medical Center infectious diseases physician who has been advising the MSO since last February. “The data collected by Sheriff Koutoujian is the first I am seeing on COVID-19 vaccination interest amongst people in jail in the nation, and it will help us develop better, smarter educational programs and policy.”
The vaccine will be optional at Middlesex Jail & House of Correction. To date, 103 MSO staff members have been vaccinated, all of whom were considered frontline health workers.
