Half of California prison employees are reluctant to get COVID vaccine, officials say

Many California prison staff members have been reluctant to get their COVID-19 vaccination, according to testimony from a senior California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation official at a legislative hearing this week.

“We had a very detailed online survey at the beginning of this (vaccination) effort. They found that about half the people want the vaccine now, and another quarter said ‘I’d like to see my buddy here go first but I want it,’” said Dr. Joseph Bick, director of Correctional Health Care Services at the department.

As of Jan. 31, 22,689 prison staff and 10,626 inmates have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to data provided to the Assembly budget subcommittee on public safety.

The state corrections department employs about 57,000 people. About 15,500 of them have tested positive for COVID-19, and 25 state prison employs have died after contracting COVID-19.

Bick spoke at a hearing addressing the spread of COVID-19 in the California prison system. The hearing follows a report from the Office of the Inspector General, which found that the department rushed the transfer of inmates last year, potentially exposing thousands of people to COVID-19 in the process.

Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, pressed Bick and the federal official who oversees prison healthcare, Clark Kelso, on whether state employees would be reassigned if they decline to be vaccinated.

“I think not doing anything is how we got into this problem. And so I think we need to learn from past mistakes and be a little more proactive to protect everyone, whether it’s our prisoners and their families or our workers and their families,” Garcia said during Monday’s hearing.

Kelso said that vaccinating staff “is continuing to be a work in progress.”

“We do have on staff, just as in the free world, we have people who are suspicious of vaccines. We have people who still don’t believe that COVID is real,” he said.

Kelso said the department is focused on vaccinating as many people as possible, with hopes that those holding out from getting a shot will see how safe the vaccine is and decide to get it themselves.

He said that transferring prison guards who refuse to get the vaccine could be viewed as retaliation.

“Now is the not the time to start for example saying, ‘If you don’t, ... you’re going to move,’” Kelso said.

Bick said that the prison system has made considerable progress in getting vaccines distributed.

“We’re well past two-thirds of our staff who have either been vaccinated or have some degree of immunity because of having had COVID,” he said.

Pressed again by Garcia, Bick said that there is no action being taken to remove guards who refuse to comply with getting a vaccine.

“They’re not being penalized at this time by a job change for not being first in line for a vaccine,” he said.

“Or we could think about it that we’re not prioritizing everyone’s health,” Garcia responded.

This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 2:56 PM.