Coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, criminal justice and immigration.
This week, Florida expanded eligibility for COVID-19 vaccines to all residents 16 and older. But across the state, more than 70,000 people still don’t have access to the vaccine. Those men and women are Florida state prisoners.
More than half the country has opened up vaccine eligibility, vastly expanding the ability for most Americans to get the shot, despite their age or any preexisting medical conditions. But inside prisons, it’s a different story: Prisoners, not free to seek out vaccines, still lack access to them on the whole.
Nationwide, fewer than 20% of state and federal prisoners have been vaccinated according to data collected by The Marshall Project and The Associated Press. In some states, prisoners and advocates have resorted to lawsuits to get access. And even when prisoners are eligible, they aren’t receiving important education about the vaccine.