California prisoners with special needs were the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccination at the Golden State this week, according to a report on Tuesday.
Sixty-five inmates and officials from the California Health Care Facility in Stockton volunteered to receive the vaccine on Tuesday, said Steve Crouch, director of civil servants at the International Union of Operational Engineers, who represents maintenance and systems officials.
California Health Center in Stock, California.
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Officials who received the vaccines are in high-risk positions, dealing with potentially infected prisoners, Crouch told the Los Angeles Times.
At least 150 of the facility’s 2,400 inmates are positive for COVID-19.
Vaccination of high-risk staff and inmates should also be initiated at the Central California Women’s Health Center in Chowchilla and at the California Medical Center, Vacaville, according to California Correctional Health Services.
“The supply of the vaccine is limited and will be distributed according to state and federal guidelines,” the agency said in a statement. “Our first focus will be on people at high risk of being infected or seriously ill by COVID-19.”
California state prisons have more than 90,000 inmates and this week more than 10,000 had active cases of COVID-19, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation website.
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Active cases among the team totaled more than 3,400. Cumulatively, there were more than 10,500 employee cases and 7,120 returned to work.
The deaths of 113 inmates and 11 employees appear to be due to complications from COVID-19, according to the department.
Outside of prisons, coronavirus vaccination is underway for medical workers, as California is in the midst of an impressive outbreak of coronavirus cases that officials say originated at Thanksgiving meetings.
On Thursday, California became the country’s first state to exceed 2 million cases, according to the latest estimates from Johns Hopkins University.
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The adherence milestone occurs when many hospitals in California have installed capacity or are at limit. Earlier this week, Governor Gavin Newsom warned that COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state could reach 100,000 in January.
Fox News’ Madeline Farber and The Associated Press contributed to this report.