New York is offering various incentives, including care packages, barbecues and conjugal visits, to prison inmates in exchange for them receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in an effort to improve inoculation rates among prisoners, the New York Post reports.
While about 70% of New York’s total population have been vaccinated, just 45% of inmates in New York prisons have received the coronavirus vaccine. "Many other state prison populations have much higher vaccination rates," according to Acting Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Anthony Annucci, who wrote a memo about the issue to the state’s almost 34,000 inmates that was obtained by the Post.
"To encourage you to do your part in this fight, the Department will implement an incentive program," he added.
Five randomly selected vaccinated inmates in each of the 50 prisons in New York will receive a care package containing "the most popular food items sold at our assigned facility’s commissary, not to exceed a $75 value."
Annucci wrote: "In addition, at the conclusion of this vaccination campaign, Central Office will award a facility barbecue to all vaccinated individuals at six facilities … for the highest percentage of individuals vaccinated."
The state is also reintroducing "family reunification," or conjugal visits for fully vaccinated inmates who are well-behaved and have permission from the commissioner’s office.
"In addition to keeping yourself, your family, and your friends safe, one other benefit for getting the vaccine is that when the Department restarts the Family Reunification Program in September, it will be a pre-requisite for any participating incarcerated individual to be fully vaccinated," Annucci wrote.
Mike Powers, president of the state Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Association, told the Post: "We feel New York should think about its own essential employees who continue to serve the community and follow the lead of other states who have correctional officer-specific incentives available."
He added, "The brave men and women of NYSCOPBA have sacrificed their personal health and safety throughout this entire pandemic, putting in long hours in adverse conditions. They’ve given everything they have to the state of New York, including unfairly having to fight to get their sick time made whole after being forced to quarantine after an exposure. Where is their vaccination incentive program?"
New York state Rep. Tom O’Mara, a Republican, ripped the decision, saying in a statement that "The Cuomo’s administration has more important work to do than putting together and expending its resources on care packages and arranging barbecues for state prison inmates. State prison officials should be prioritizing their efforts on actions to put a stop to the rising tide of violence throughout our prison system and ensure adequate staffing levels."
A spokesperson for DOCCS told the newspaper that "The maximum number of vaccinated incarcerated individuals ensures a safer work environment for staff, the incarcerated population and visitors to facilities."
In addition, "this type of incentive program has proven to be effective not only in the general public, but in correctional systems across the country. For correction officers to politicize this effort and dismiss all the challenges of the past year and a half is beyond the pale."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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