Prison vaccine program aimed at staff and high-risk inmates, officials say

Dee J. Hall

Oct. 31, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- The Wisconsin Department of Corrections responded Friday to criticism from a state lawmaker that prisoners were getting the swine flu vaccine ahead of some members of the public.

State Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, said he was concerned after seeing a news report that some inmates at a women's prison in Fond du Lac had gotten the H1N1 vaccine while some vulnerable members of the public are still waiting.

"No one wants to be inhumane," Davis said, "but there are pregnant women who have been law-abiding citizens who are having trouble getting the vaccine."

Corrections spokesman John Dipko said the agency, which has 10,000 employees and 22,000 inmates, has received 900 doses of the vaccine, 45 of which have been given to high-risk prisoners, including pregnant women at Taycheedah Correctional Institution. Dipko said the vaccine was administered, in order, to prison health care workers, pregnant employees and pregnant inmates.

Pregnant women and health-care workers are among the vulnerable groups being targeted for inoculation during the ongoing nationwide vaccine shortage. As of Wednesday, Wisconsin had received about 300,000 doses of flu vaccine, and most of it had already been administered to health care workers and other targeted groups, according to the state Department of Health Services.

Dipko said most of the 45 prisoners vaccinated are pregnant, while others fell into other high-risk categories.

"The vast majority of the vaccine has been going to our staff," Dipko said. "We're not making the vaccine available to our general inmate population at this time."

Concern in Wisconsin about who is getting the vaccine appears to be part of a nationwide dialogue about where prisoners should be in the pecking order of vaccine recipients -- controversies have erupted in Massachusetts, Ohio, North Carolina, Texas and Washington state.

Christopher Ahmuty, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said withholding vaccine from Wisconsin inmates would "put the health of prisoners, correctional officers and their communities in jeopardy."

"In overcrowded jails and prisons ... the risk of H1N1 contagion spreading among prisoners and correctional officers and then to the officers' families and communities must be addressed vigorously," Ahmuty said. "Prisoners are serving their debt to society, but being subjected to disease and death is not part of a just sentence in any civilized society."

Davis said the state should focus on protecting groups of "law-abiding citizens," including teachers who work in confined settings where the virus could spread.

Since the spring, 14 people have died of the H1N1 flu in Wisconsin.

"Hopefully, there'll be more vaccine made available and we can serve everybody," Davis said. "But if it doesn't happen, we'll have to continue to make tough decisions."

Newstex ID: KRTB-0219-39340241