The percentage of vaccinated incarcerated individuals in Vermont is increasing.
The Covid-19 vaccine has been administered to 957 incarcerated individuals, with 303 refusing the shot, Rachel Feldman, a corrections department spokesperson, said Wednesday. That translates to 76% of incarcerated individuals who have agreed to be vaccinated, with a refusal rate of 24%.
“The way that we are calculating these is how many individuals have been offered the vaccine in DOC custody and how many have accepted it,” Feldman said.
“We have people who have come in and are detained that are already vaccinated,” she said, adding, “but they are not counted in either of these categories.”
In early May, the corrections department reported 34% of people in prison had refused vaccination — 810 had received the shot and 421 had declined. That meant 66% of incarcerated individuals had been vaccinated at that time.
“Two of our facilities are at 80% or above. We have three facilities that are very close to 80%,” Feldman said Wednesday.
A breakdown of the latest vaccination figures shows:
— Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, the state’s only women’s prison, 77 vaccinated, 19 refusals, 80% vaccinated.
— Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland, 67 vaccinated, 17 refusals, 79.7% vaccinated.
— Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury, 117 vaccinated, 28 refusals, 80.8% vaccinated.
— Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport, 266 vaccinated, 103 refusals, 72% vaccinated.
— Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans, 115 vaccinated, 33 refusals, 77.7% vaccinated.
— Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, 202 vaccinated, 54 refusals, 78.9% vaccinated.
— Tallahatchie County Correctional Facility in Mississippi, which houses some incarcerated people from Vermont, 113 vaccinated, 49 refusals, 69.8% vaccinated.
Corrections officials said they had surveyed incarcerated individuals to determine why they refused to get vaccinated. Then, the department worked to try to answer those concerns through a video and other information provided to incarcerated individuals.
The video included Mark Levine, Vermont health commissioner, and Vermont Defender General Matthew Valerio, whose department includes the state’s prisoners’ rights office.
Some incarcerated individuals have told VTDigger that they refused vaccination over a distrust of the corrections department and a need for more information than had been provided.
Feldman said Wednesday that she believed there were several factors leading to the increase in the vaccination rate.
“Part of it is word of mouth. Part of it is the video we put out answering incarcerated individuals’ questions about the vaccine,” she said. “Another part of it is visitation opening up.”
The corrections department recently announced it would be allowing visitation for incarcerated individuals, which had been stopped at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, providing that they have been vaccinated.
Valerio said Wednesday he was glad to hear the latest report about the vaccination rates of incarcerated individuals in Vermont.
“It’s improving,” he said, “and those who haven’t been vaccinated should be, and I would encourage them to do it.”
