The Legal Aid Society called on Governor Andrew Cuomo to allow state and local health authorities to provide COVID-19 vaccines to people held in jails and prisons as data released today by the New York State Department of Correction and Community Supervision (DOCCS) show that 4,087 people in state custody have now tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March of last year.

Recognizing the heightened risk to COVID-19 incarcerated people face as a result of being forced to live in congregate settings, Massachusetts, under Republican Governor Charlie Baker, announced last month that his administration would immediately offer the vaccine to tens of thousands of people in state custody. Virginia also recently announced a similar effort, as reported by  THE CITY.

While governors in other states take decisive action, Governor Cuomo has ignored the appeals of health experts, who agree that prisons and jails are high-risk settings that should be prioritized for vaccine access, and Cuomo has not authorized the vaccine for these populations as part of Phase 1b.

“Governor Cuomo’s refusal to authorize vaccination of New Yorkers who live in the congregate settings of prisons and jails extends racist policies of incarceration to racist policies of vaccination. It defies the advice of all public health experts, and is cruel and irresponsible,” said Stefen Short, Supervising Attorney with the Prisoners’ Rights Project at The Legal Aid Society.