Inmate Advocates Ask Inslee To Prioritize Vaccinations In Prisons

OLYMPIA, WA — As vaccine eligibility expands across Washington this week, inmate advocates are calling on state leaders to add all incarcerated people to the list of those who qualify for immunizations.

Earlier in the month, Columbia Legal Services sent a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee, Secretary of Health Umair Shah, and Department of Corrections secretary Steven Sinclair, asking them to act immediately upon three urgent demands:

• All individuals in DOC custody must immediately be offered the COVID-19 vaccine.
• The Department of Health and Department of Corrections must immediately create a vaccine education and distribution plan that provides accurate information about the vaccine and is responsive to the environment of distrust and historical abuse of people who are incarcerated by both medical and carceral authorities.
• DOC must create a plan to protect individuals in their custody from correctional staff who refuse to be vaccinated.

Since the earliest days of the pandemic, attorneys and advocates have lobbied the state to enact stronger health protections for those serving time in Washington prisons, citing the substantial risk of spread in congregate settings and the limited ability to ensure proper physical distancing and sanitation measures inside prisons.

According to state data, nearly 40 percent of Washington's prison population has contracted COVID-19 since the public health crisis began.

Last April, Columbia Legal Services led a lawsuit effort seeking to secure the release of all inmates over 50, those with heightened medical concerns and all people within 18 months of their release date. The Washington State Supreme Court ordered the governor and corrections officials to develop a plan to ensure inmate safety but ultimately ruled against the petition seeking more wide releases.

In December, amid Washington's third and most substantial wave of infections, advocates renewed their call to action, pointing to hundreds of new cases recorded across the prison system. At the time, corrections officials had confirmed roughly 2,500 COVID-19 infections in total. In the wake of the third wave, that number has more than doubled, surpassing 6,000 illnesses and 14 deaths among inmates.

As the state reaches Phase 1B2, eligibility expands to "high-risk critical workers" in congregate settings, including corrections officers and other staff in prisons, jails and detention centers. However, the state's latest timeline does not include the wider population of those living inside correctional facilities until the end of April.

Related: Vaccine Rollout Advances: Phase 1B2 Begins Wednesday

Columbia Legal Services argues that the proposed timeline is insufficient for the approximately 15,000 inmates living in close quarters and asked the state to include all of them earlier, similar to how educators were reprioritized.

The Department of Corrections vaccination dashboard showed nearly 9,000 total doses administered as of March 16, but advocates point out the data does not yet distinguish between shots given to staff members and inmates or detail how recipients were chosen.

In closing the letter, dated and signed March 8, three staff attorneys pleaded with the state to provide a detailed plan to address the concerns quickly or face another lawsuit.

"Now with the introduction and availability of multiple effective vaccines, Governor Inslee, DOH, and DOC must take immediate steps to protect the vulnerable people who are living in our state correctional facilities," the letter reads. "The people living in DOC custody are at an exponentially higher risk of contracting COVID-19 if and when another outbreak occurs, and prioritizing access to the vaccine for the over 15,000 people in these facilities should not be politicized – it is a matter of fulfilling the State’s duty to protect people in its custody."

The attorneys asked the state to respond no later than Friday, March 19.

Read the full letter below: