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BOP HITS UGLY COVID MILESTONE AS VACCINE IS PROMISED

With yesterday’s numbers, the Bureau of Prisons continues into new  COVID-19 record with 4,792 sick inmates, topping previous records of 3,461 on May 11 and 4,454 on July 23. The inmate death toll hit 157 last week, with one fatality – Louis Rector at FMC Butner – having been declared recovered in July, only to be hospitalized two months later and then to linger for two months before dying.

A record 1,414 BOP staff are sick. COVID is in 126 BOP facilities. Fifteen joints have more than 100 inmates sick, and four have more than 200 COVID cases. The BOP says it has tested 54% of all inmates at least once, with a positivity rate of 29%.

The big news now is about vaccine. The Associated Press reported last week that the BOP would be “among the first government agencies to receive the coronavirus vaccine, though initial allotments of the vaccine will be given to staff and not to inmates, even though sickened prisoners vastly outnumber sickened staff,” citing documents it had obtained from the BOP.  AP said the BOP has “been instructing wardens and other staff members to prepare to receive the vaccine within weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. The people could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.”

Government Executive reported that the BOP “would provide vaccines to all staff and inmates under the interim plan. Employees and inmates at private contract facilities are not slated for inclusion. In a recent memorandum for staff obtained by Government Executive, the bureau said employees, rather than inmates, would receive ‘initial allocations.’ CDC will determine the size of that allocation. The memo also provided a glimpse into the process federal workers will follow to receive a vaccine from their agencies: staff will follow a specific link that will allow them to register and, once registered, they can set up an appointment at their facility’s health services department.”

The government has not yet approved any vaccine, a necessary step before any doses can be delivered. Several vaccine makers have asked for expedited permission, and CBS reported yesterday that vaccine may be available by Christmas.

Advocates say the federal government should be doing more to ensure vulnerable, at-risk inmates have access to the vaccine as soon as possible. “If true, it’s a disgrace,” David Patton, the head of the federal defender office in New York, said of the Bureau of Prisons plan. “Prisoners are among the very highest-risk groups for contracting COVID-19. The conditions of confinement make social distancing and proper hygiene and sanitation nearly impossible. The government should certainly prioritize prison staff, but to not also prioritize the people incarcerated is irresponsible and inhumane.”

AP said the BOP “has been accused of missteps and scattershot policies since the virus reached the U.S. earlier this year.”

A prime example may be the one reported by WUSA-TV, Washington, DC, last week. Fabian Tinsley died of COVID last April at Butner, but no one told his family Fabian’s niece discovered news accounts of his death when she Googled him in August.

WUSA-TV said, “Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons failed to inform Tinsley’s family of his death in April. Staff from the North Carolina facility only notified next-of-kin after reports from the CBS News affiliates in Raleigh and Washington. “I think they thought we wouldn’t care enough, and that’s been the problem,” said Latesha Boyd, Tinsley’s niece. “We have no closure, that’s how I feel.”

The TV station reported that “After the communications breakdown became apparent in August, Boyd said Butner staff called frequently with apologies. Yet the family said they could only describe their current situation as being trapped in a bureaucratic runaround, with no firm details on where to find Tinsley’s body.”

In an October statement from the BOP, “a spokesperson said communication with the family continues,” WUSA-TV reported.

BOP, Inmate Death at FMC Butner (November 23, 2020)

Associated Press, Federal prisons to prioritize staff to receive virus vaccine (November 23, 2020)

Government Executive, Several Federal Agencies to Deliver COVID-19 Vaccines to Employees Directly (November 23, 2020)

CDC, COVID-19 Vaccination Program – Interim Playbook for Jurisdiction Operations (October 29, 2020)

WUSA-TV, 224 days after a DC man died of coronavirus, his family still has no idea where to find his body (November 26, 2020)

– Thomas L. Root