COVID-19 vaccine for people who live and work in prisons worldwide: A scoping review

Abstract

Overcrowding, poor conditions, and high population turnover make prisons highly susceptible to COVID-19. Vaccination is key to controlling COVID-19, yet there is disagreement regarding whether people who live and work in prisons should be prioritised in national vaccination programmes. To help resolve this, we critically examine the extent, nature, and quality of extant literature regarding prioritisation of COVID-19 vaccinations for people who live and work in prisons. Using a scoping review as our methodological framework, we conducted a systematic literature search of 17 databases. From 2,307 potentially eligible articles, we removed duplicates and screened titles and abstracts to retain 45 articles for review and quality appraisal. Findings indicated that while most countries recognise that prisons are at risk of high levels of COVID-19 transmission, only a minority have explicitly prioritised people who live and work in prisons for COVID-19 vaccination. Even among those that have, prioritisation criteria vary considerably. This is set against a backdrop of political barriers, such as politicians questioning the moral deservingness of people in prison; policy barriers, such as the absence of a unified international framework of how vaccine prioritisation should proceed in prisons; logistical barriers regarding vaccine administration in prisons; and behavioural barriers including vaccine hesitancy. We outline five strategies to prioritise people who live and work in prisons in COVID-19 vaccination plans: (1) improving data collection on COVID-19 vaccination, (2) reducing the number of people imprisoned, (3) tackling vaccine populism through advocacy, (4) challenging arbitrary prioritisation processes via legal processes, and (5) conducting more empirical research on COVID-19 vaccination planning, delivery, and acceptability. Implementing these strategies would help to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the prison population, prevent community transmission, improve vaccine uptake in prisons beyond the current pandemic, foster political accountability, and inform future decision-making.

Implementation of COVID-19 vaccination services in prison in six European countries: translating emergency intervention into routine life-course vaccination

“…This also addressed possible cold supply chain issues by streamlining vaccination delivery, stocking and administration in a single day. It is also likely to have decreased vaccine wastage [ 15 ].…”

“…The release of the COVID-19 vaccine in late 2020 and the recommendation by WHO [ 13 ] to include prisons among priority settings have led to the inclusion of prisons in the national COVID-19 vaccination strategy [ 13 , 14 ]. The implementation of universal vaccination services in prison settings has been unprecedented and such experience may provide solid ground for the much needed future expansion of vaccination offers for PLP [ 15 ]. In 2021 the project “RISE-Vac - Reaching the hard- to-reach: Increasing access and vaccine uptake among the prison population in Europe”, co-funded by the European Union, was launched to explore ways to promote vaccine offer and uptake in prisons in Europe, involving six countries across the region (Supplementary material, Table 1 .…”

Devaluing Incarcerated Populations: Deprioritizing Incarcerated Populations for COVID-19 Vaccination

“…36 This stigma was exemplified in the deprioritization of incarcerated populations, as well as in the opposition to prioritizing incarcerated populations, even in states where incarcerated populations were not deprioritzed. 37 For example, in Colorado, where the incarcerated population was included in Phase 2 in the earliest available plan and subsequent plans, the governor described at a press conference that “There’s no way it’s [the vaccine] going to go to prisoners before it goes to people who haven’t committed any crime.” 38 In Wisconsin, where the incarcerated population was not deprioritized, the legislature drafted a bill that would have prohibited identifying incarcerated populations as a priority population, 39 and Representative David Steffen, author of an Assembly Bill to prohibit the prioritization of the incarcerated population, stated “Convicted criminals shouldn’t receive priority treatment for the COVID-19 vaccine ahead of anyone.” 40…”

Acceptance of the COVID-19 Vaccine by Prisoners and Staff in Spanish Prisons

“…Ismail, N et al in their review study concluded that conducting more empirical research on the acceptability of COVID-19 vaccination would help to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the prison population, prevent community transmission, improve vaccine acceptance in prisons, encourage political accountability and inform future decisionmaking [10].…”

“…Vaccination coverage against COVID-19 in prisons (incarcerated individuals and staff) in certain countries reached levels similar to that of the general population even during periods of limited vaccine supply [10][11][12]. However, globally, there is evidence that vaccination against COVID-19 among inmates and prison staff was not considered a public health priority [10][11][12].…”