In-person visits being canceled for unvaccinated state prison inmates
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State prison inmates who are not vaccinated against the coronavirus no longer will be allowed to have in-person visits from friends and family, according to Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel.
Also, inmates now will be housed in Pennsylvania’s prisons based on their vaccination status.
The new policy takes effect Monday.
Wetzel said it is an effort designed to minimize contact unvaccinated prisoners have with others.
“Those who are vaccinated are protected by the vaccine, and we are working to protect those who choose not to be vaccinated by limiting contact with potential carriers of the virus,” he said.
State prison inmates are able to get the one-dose Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. Wetzel said psychology staff members will make rounds on unvaccinated units at least once daily.
About 7,000 inmates at state prisons are not vaccinated, according to statistics from the department. Approximately 80% of the system’s 37,000 inmates have been vaccinated.
Nearly 78% of staff members have not been vaccinated, according to statistics. Employees are not required to report health information to the department. About 3,500 are immunized.
Loved ones who had a visit scheduled for Monday or later with an unvaccinated inmate will receive a cancellation email. Free video visits are an alternative. Department officials said additional video terminals will be added.
The changes were prompted by an increase in cases at SCI Phoenix near Philadelphia and information about variants of the virus, officials said. There are 31 inmates and nine staff members who are positive for the virus currently at that facility, according to department statistics available Friday morning.
There have been 141 inmate deaths and a total of 11,000 cases in all 23 state prison facilities. SCI Dallas near Wilkes-Barre has seen the most inmate cases with about 1,300, according to department statistics.
At local state prisons, there have been 1,500 cases — 131 at SCI Fayette, 536 at SCI Laurel Highlands, 182 at SCI Greene and 627 at SCI Somerset.