People protest during a rally calling for more government action to combat the spread of monkeypox in New York City, in July 2022.

People protest during a rally calling for more government action to combat the spread of monkeypox in New York City, in July 2022. Jeenah Moon/Getty Images

Prisons and Jails Are ‘Potentially High-Risk’ for Monkeypox but Won’t Fall under a Vaccine Mandate

Public health experts say the CDC’s decision not to proactively vaccinate those behind bars threatens the health of the public at large.

Aziza Ahmed describes it as a public health disaster: a lot of people in tight quarters, inadequate health care, staff coming and going and no vaccines. 

Ahmed is a professor of law and an expert in health legal issues at Boston University. She is among a chorus of public health experts voicing concerns over the federal response to monkeypox in prisons and jails.

“At least at a minimum, [monkeypox] will require vaccines and personal protective equipment and places to isolate or quarantine,” Ahmed said. “Vaccines are really the baseline.”

Last month, the Biden administration declared the monkeypox virus — which is primarily spread by skin-to-skin contact — a public health emergency. While anyone can get and transmit the virus, it has thus far disproportionately impacted men who have sex with men. Experts say that is also likely to be the case behind bars, where thousands are crowded into tight facilities and sex is often traded for safety, and in many cases prisoners in laundry facilities must wash each other’s bedding and clothing.

But the Biden administration has no plans to administer or require vaccines to prevent the spread of monkeypox behind bars, officials confirmed to The 19th. 

In an email to The 19th, Randilee Giamusso of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) said that due to limited supplies, federal prisons will not vaccinate the incarcerated unless they are already exposed to monkeypox. The Department of Justice declined to comment on any plans to enforce vaccine access in state prisons or county jails, stating only that whether incarcerated people got them would be left as a matter of personal choice. 

“BOP health care staff continue to monitor inmate patients for signs of monkeypox infection and are prepared to offer vaccination as clinically indicated by current CDC guidelines,” Giamusso said. 

As of August 10, federal prisons had not reported any monkeypox cases. Cook County Jail in Chicago — one of the country’s largest single-site jails — reported its first case at the end of July. 

Vaccinating people who have been exposed to monkeypox is effective in preventing them from experiencing symptoms and spreading the virus, said Dr. Joshua Barocas, associate professor of medicine and infectious diseases physician at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

“But this is a conditional situation in which you know that you've been exposed,” Barocas added. “If you're in a jail or prison setting, in close contact, sharing bedding, you might be cleaning somebody else's bedding, sharing utensils, and certainly there is sexual activity happening in jails and prisons. By not being proactive in this community, we’re ignoring a potentially high-risk venue for spread.” 

While fabric-to-skin contact is generally considered low risk for spreading monkeypox, experts worry that chances of contagion could increase in prisons, where incarcerated people must wash hundreds or thousands of sheets. 

It remains unclear what, if any, vaccine supply will be made available to those in federal and state prisons and county jails. Supplies of the monkeypox vaccine remain limited, and priority in most parts of the country has gone to those considered highest risk for infection: queer men, men who have sex with men, trans and nonbinary people who have had multiple partners, anonymous sexual partners, or both in recent weeks. 

Health experts told The 19th that offering vaccines inside prisons helps the incarcerated, those employed in prisons and the general public. Last year, Drs. Eric Reinhart and Daniel Chen found that 13 percent of Chicago’s COVID-19 cases from March 2020, when the pandemic first struck there, could be traced back to Cook County Jail. 

Reinhart, who is a physician and anthropologist at Harvard and Northwestern Universities, argues that prisons and jails are powder kegs for pandemics. 

“Ultimately, this doesn't just affect incarcerated people who deserve care and attention and proper preventative measures, but it also affects broader populations,” they said. “Mass incarceration is fundamentally incompatible with public health and it doesn't just put people who are incarcerated at risk, it puts the entire U.S. population at risk.” 

On August 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published monkeypox guidance for prisons and jails that recommends frequent hand washing, isolation of people who are infected and proper waste disposal to curb the spread of the virus. Absent from the list are mentions of vaccines. Experts also question the feasibility of social distancing in prisons and jails. 

Barocas added that the guidance lacks testing and screening protocols. 

“You may not even know if your cellmate has monkeypox,” Barocas said. “They may not disclose because of fear of repercussions by jail or prison staff.”

While some have voiced concerns about mutations of the virus in prisons, Barocas said the greatest threat behind prison walls is simply rapid spread. 

“If you let it go unmitigated because of some ridiculous notion that people in jails don't deserve the same treatment as people out of jails, then you're going to get unmitigated spread in the community,” he said. “These are literally incubators for the community.”

Originally published by The 19th

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.