The study says that prisons are high-risk environments for infectious disease outbreaks due to overcrowding and inconsistent access to washing facilities. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images People in prisons are at an increased risk of Covid-19, with a death rate more than three times higher than that of the general population, and should be made a vaccine priority, according to public health experts. There were 118 deaths related to Covid-19 among people in prisons in England and Wales between March 2020 and February 2021, representing a risk of dying more than three times higher than that of people of the same age and sex outside secure environments, the research team at University College London (UCL) found.