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BOP’s Good and Bad At COVID Management – Update for January 19, 2021

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

COVID – BOP GETS PAT ON BACK, KICK IN PANTS

pat-on-back210119In a self-congratulatory press release issued late last week, the BOP said it has been commended by Operation Warp Speed – the Trump COVID-19 vaccine program – for having been the most efficient agency in the entire government at administering COVID vaccine. According to the CDC, the BOP has used 97% of the doses it has received.

Of course, it helps that the BOP has a captive audience. Not among staff so much: in a troubling report, the BOP said only half of its staff offered the vaccine have taken it. But the inmates… that’s another story. Doses not used by staff at the locations receiving it – about 68 of 122 facilities so far – have been offered to inmates using CDC priorities, and there are plenty of takers. The BOP so far has administered over 17,000 doses of the vaccine, a first dose to about 7,600 staff and 5,500 inmates, and a second dose to about 1,000 staff and 1,100 inmates. In other words, only 24% of staff and 4% of inmates have been vaccinated so far.

As of last Thursday – the last day the BOP bothered to release numbers – 4807 inmates and 2049 staff were reported to be sick with COVID. The BOP has tested two out of three inmates at least once, with a positivity rate that keeps climbing. Currently, 43% of inmate tests come back positive.

Death took no holiday last week as an additional eight inmates died last week. Significantly, two of the deaths – at FCI Jesup and FCI Memphis – were of inmates the BOP has previously declared to be “recovered.”  The BOP is quite quick to declare inmates “recovered” when 10 days pass after a positive teas. The declaration is based on CDC guidance, the BOP says, but is often misapplied, with the agency ignoring any continuing symptom other than a fever. 

FCI Fort Dix, where 321 inmates are still reported to have the virus, is set to get the COVID-19 vaccine next week, according to NJ Advance Media. BOP case management coordinator James Reiser told a court on Wednesday that the prison expects to receive COVID-19 vaccine on Jan 19. It is unclear how many doses the prison will initially receive, Reiser said.

kickinpants210119New Jersey Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker and Congressman Andy Kim led members of the New Jersey congressional delegation last week in urging the DOJ Inspector General to expand his ongoing investigation into the BOP COVID-19 response to include its handling of the Fort Dix outbreak.

Finally, a kick in the pants: the DOJ Inspector General last week reported that last April, BOP employees at FCC Coleman were threatened with discipline if they wore personally-acquired masks , and sometimes were sent home on sick leave for wearing such coverings. One complainant reported that a supervisor had said wearing a mask would “scare the inmates,” the OIG report said.

BOP, COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts Commended (January 16, 2021)

New Jersey Advance Media, N.J. prison with worst COVID-19 outbreak in the country set to get vaccine next week (January 13, 2021)

InsiderNJ, Menendez, Booker, Kim Lead NJ Delegation Call for IG Probe into COVID-19 Outbreak at Fort Dix (January 15, 2021)

Orlando Sentinel, Federal prison in Central Florida banned masks for staff as pandemic began, report says (January 14, 2021)

– Thomas L. Root

Inmate Vaccine Not In The Near Term? – LISA Newsletter for December 21, 2020

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

INMATES NO PRIORITY FOR VACCINE, ADVISORY PANEL RECOMMENDS

COVIDvaccine201221The Federal Bureau of Prisons received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines last Wednesday, and began administering the drug to its correctional officers and health care staffers. The agency said inmates will follow “when additional doses are available.”

And that’s not going to be anytime soon. Earlier this month, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said health care workers and nursing home residents — about 24 million people — should be at the very front of the line for the vaccines. Sunday afternoon, the panel voted 13-1 that next in line should be people 75 and older, who number about 20 million, as well as certain front-line workers, who total about 30 million. Those essential workers include firefighters and police; teachers and school staff; those working in food, agricultural and manufacturing sectors; corrections workers; U.S. Postal Service employees; public transit workers; and grocery store workers.

The committee also voted that behind those groups should be people aged 65 to 74, numbering about 30 million; those aged 16 to 64 with certain medical conditions such as obesity and cancer, that are at higher risk if they get infected with COVID-19, numbering as many as 110 million; and a tier of other essential workers. This group of as many as 57 million includes a wide category of food service and utility workers but also those in legal and financial jobs and the media.

How about vaccine for inmates? The BOP told CBS last week that it is up to Operations Warp Speed to decide when inmates will receive the vaccine. CBS reported, however, that a spokesperson for Operation Warp Speed said the BOP would decide about the timeline.

The National Commission on Covid-19 and Criminal Justice last week recommended that inmates receive priority consideration for Covid-19 vaccines equal to that for police and correctional officers. That recommendation, however, appears to be one of many rejected by the Advisory Committee.

inoculation201221And yet… I received several inmate emails last week (and this is totally unconfirmed) that a handful of BOP inmates at two facilities received vaccine last week. The emails gave no indication of how the inmates were selected for the vaccine. One – from a Texas BOP facility written two days ago – said

well the good news and vibes ran out on the [institution] compound. we ran out of vaccines before we completed even one building. of course the fact that no one was planned to receive it inmate wise. what we did get is hopefully helpful. my building has about 40% done on the first dose.

Another inmate email, received early this morning, independently reported that some inmates at the same institution (“at least a couple hundred,” the report stated) received vaccine.

An inmate in a separate Texas facility reported Friday night:

I thought you’d be interested in reports that 100 inmates received their first dose of the vaccine today. Some of these are known personally to me, so I can confirm that they were sent to the clinic and given a shot. They were told that they would be called back to the clinic in 21 days for their second dose. Reportedly, all staff who wanted the vaccine have received their first dose.

One can reasonably infer from the emails that perhaps the vaccine being administered was left over after staff inoculations had been completed, and – having been thawed – had to be used within five days.

[Later note: An inmate from a North Carolina facility reported by email on Monday, December 21, that he had gotten the vaccine: “Once the staff here at the [institution] received their vaccinations if they chose, there were doses left over. Instead of letting those doses go to waste, the staff chose to offer them to some of the inmates based on their medical conditions.  There were probably around 30 or so in my housing unit, including myself, that were offered the vaccine.  Most of us chose to take it.  I, myself, am thankful to the staff for making that decision and offering them to us and I felt that I needed to let you know that some of us are getting it.” ]

More than two dozen members of House of Representatives last Wednesday demanded details about how inmates will be vaccinated for COVID-19, questioning whether the most vulnerable prisoners will have priority access.

In a letter to BOP director Michael Carvajal and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention chief Dr. Robert Redfield, the 26 lawmakers, led by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Virginia), wrote,

The BOP has provided informal information regarding the vaccine distribution plan. We are deeply concerned that the current plan places the most vulnerable incarcerated individuals who have a cancer diagnosis, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart conditions, compromised immune systems, sickle cell, diabetes, and individuals 65 years or older in priority level 3 behind incarcerated individuals in minimum security facilities who are in open bay housing and are currently listed in priority group 2. Incarcerated individuals with these types of medical conditions are at a high risk of complications if they contract COVID-19 as it spreads through federal prisons yet are slated to receive the vaccine after prison staffers in phase 1 and other incarcerated individuals listed in phase 2.

Despite reporting that over 1,500 inmates “recovered” from COVID-19 within just a few days of each other, the BOP still reported having 5,881 active inmate cases,1,694 sick staff, COVID in 126 BOP facilities and 180 dead inmates (up 13 in one week). The BOP has tested 62% of all inmates at least once, with the positivity rate continuing to ratchet up. As of last Friday, 36% of all inmate tests are positive for COVID.

Still, the trend apparently suggests that the latest BOP outbreak has peaked.

BOPCOVID201218

As of last Friday, Sandstone, Florence, Loretto and Pekin all reported over 200 inmate COVID-19 cases, another 12 facilities had more than 100 cases, and another 20 joints had 50 or more. Loretto had been written down from over 600 cases earlier in the week as inmates are declared to be recovered.

A cautionary note about those “recovered” inmates. Of the 13 inmates who died last week, two – a 64-year old man at FCI Victorville I and a 72-year old man at FCI Lompoc – had contracted COVID-19 months ago, and were considered “recovered” before getting much sicker and dying. In fact, the State of Michigan Dept of Health said last week that it is currently investigating 115 of “recovered” state inmates testing positive for COVID-19 three months after they were believed to be COVID-free.

New York Post, Federal prison workers to start getting vaccinated Wednesday (December 14, 2020)

Chicago Tribune, Federal panel says people over 75, essential workers should be next in line for COVID-19 vaccine as Moderna shots begin shipping out (December 20, 2020)

CBS News, Federal prisons to prioritize staffers for COVID-19 vaccine and give to inmates when more doses are available (December 18, 2020)

National Commission on Covid-19 and Criminal Justice, Experience to Action: Reshaping Criminal Justice After COVID-19 (December 14, 2020)

Letter to BOP from Rep. Robert C. Scott (D-Virginia) (December 15, 2020)

Reuters, U.S. lawmakers press prison authorities on inmate COVID-19 vaccination plans (December 16, 2020)

Detroit Free Press, State reviewing possible COVID-19 reinfections after 115 prisoners test positive twice (December 12, 2020)

– Thomas L. Root

Whither Vaccine? – Update for December 10, 2020

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

VACCINE DELIVERY TO FALL SHORT WHILE DEBATE OVER INMATE ACCESS INTENSIFIES

The Washington Post reported last Saturday that federal officials have slashed the amount of coronavirus vaccine they anticipate will ship in December because of constraints on supply, sending local officials into a scramble to adjust vaccination plans and highlighting how early promises of a vast stockpile before the end of 2020 have fallen short.

COVIDstockpile201210

And if that were not enough, it now appears that before Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine was proved highly successful in clinical trials last month, the company offered the Trump administration the chance to lock in supplies beyond the 100 million doses the pharmaceutical maker originally agreed to sell the government. The New York Times reports, however, that the administration, according to people familiar with the talks, never made the deal, “a choice that now raises questions about whether the United States allowed other countries to take its place in line.”

papertiger201210

The President issued an executive order on Tuesday that proclaimed other nations will not get the U.S. supplies of its vaccine until Americans have been inoculated. But, the Times said, “the order appears to have no real teeth and does not expand the U.S. supply of doses…”

Instead of the delivery of 300 million or so doses of vaccine immediately after emergency-use approval and before the end of 2020, as the administration had originally promised, current plans call for availability of around a tenth of that, or 35 to 40 million doses. And that is out of a maximum delivery of 100 million Pfizer doses, enough to inoculate 50 million people.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reported a week ago that as public health officials are scrambling to develop guidelines for the equitable allocation of limited vaccine supplies, “inmates are not ranked in the top tiers of the federal criteria, even though some of the largest outbreaks have occurred in the nation’s prisons.” The CDC advisory committee has prioritized correctional officers and others who work in jails and prisons for the first phase of immunizations, a decision the Times says “raises a chilling prospect: another prison outbreak that kills scores of inmates after the only preventive was reserved for staff.”

corona200313Several groups, including the American Medical Association, are calling for coronavirus vaccines to be given to inmates and employees at prisons, jails and detention centers, citing the unique risks to people in confinement — and the potential for outbreaks to spread from correctional centers, straining community hospitals. “We aren’t saying that prisoners should be treated any better than anybody else, but they shouldn’t be treated any worse than anybody else who is forced to live in a congregate setting,” said Dr. Eric Toner, co-author of a report on vaccine allocation published by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

But a political backlash has been brewing over the idea that inoculating people behind bars should be a priority. “Killers and rapists set to get COVID vaccines before Granny,” a recent Fox News segment proclaimed.

Curiously (and this should be treated as probably true but unconfirmed) two inmates from two very different locations – FCI Petersburg Medium and FMC Carswell – told me yesterday that BOP health services personnel were surveying inmates at each location to determine their willingness to be vaccinated.

Can we pronounce the word “optimism,” boys and girls?

The Washington Post, Trump’s Operation Warp Speed promised a flood of COVID vaccines. Instead, states are expecting a trickle (December 5, 2020) 

The New York Times, Trump administration officials passed when Pfizer offered months ago to sell the U.S. more vaccine doses (December 7, 2020)

The New York Times, Prisons Are Covid-19 Hotbeds. When Should Inmates Get the Vaccine? (December 2, 2020)

– Thomas L. Root

COVID Peaks, Vaccine on the Horizon – Update for December 1, 2020

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We post news and comment on federal criminal justice issues, focused primarily on trial and post-conviction matters, legislative initiatives, and sentencing issues.

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.

BOPCOVID201201A 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.”

reinfection200831Government 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.

johndoe201201WUSA-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