Paths to Improving Pandemic Preparedness in Jails and Prisons: Perspectives of Incarcerated People and Correctional Staff

ABSTRACT

People who live and work In carcera! settings are at high risk for COVID-19.1 As of September 30, 2022, at least 622 968 people incarcerated in US prisons and 230168 staff members had been diagnosed with COVID-19, and 3185 had died.2 Compared with rates among the general population, average COVID-19 case rates in state and federal prisons are five times higher3 and mortality rates are at least double.4,5 Likewise, communities that are near correctional facilities have higher rates of COVID-19.6 Carceral systems, however, have not been fully integrated into public health responses to the pandemic. Few local governments have incorporated jails and prisons into their strategies for COVID-19 response and preparedness.7 The World Health Organization's recent comprehensive framework for COVID-19 response recommends that all countries conduct a substantive equity and inclusion analysis to inform programming, which should rely on "meaningful participation, collaboration, and consultation with subpopulations experiencing poverty and social exclusion. Because of this, it went entirely unenforced because enforcing rules in a carceral setting leads to conflict. Some people said joint vaccination and testing campaigns would facilitate trust in both groups;others said mental health services for correctional staff would foster professionalism in their interactions with incarcerated people.