Colorado Black Caucus Urges Governor To Prioritize COVID Vaccines For Inmates

DENVER (CBS4) - The Black Democratic Legislative Caucus of Colorado and leaders in the Black faith community wrote a letter to Gov. Jared Polis, urging him to reconsider his decision not to prioritize COVID-19 vaccines for inmates. This, after the governor went back on his initial announcement in early December to do so.

"Their sentence should not be a death sentence," said state Rep. Leslie Herod. "All we are asking the governor to do is to take into consideration his initial recommendations where those incarcerated would be prioritized along with other people living in congregate settings."

Currently, there is a three-phase timeline for vaccine distribution in Colorado. Herod believes prisoners should be in between phase two and phase three, meaning they would be given the vaccine after people over 65, but before the rest of the public, so prison populations could still get vaccinated this spring.

"I think it's a false equivalency to say that we are asking for the vaccine to be given to inmates before someone's grandma, that's not what we're saying," Herod said. "The guidelines are recommending 65 and older and front-line workers. This is how we really phase in after that."

State data shows 6,888 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. That's out of an estimated 28,720 inmates currently in Colorado, according to state records. So far, 22 inmates have died from the virus.

"When you factor in the congregate living that they're in, and they can't adequately socially isolate... that makes inmates at a correctional facility at a higher risk and therefore they should be prioritized for the vaccination as such," Herod said.

But opponents say only inmates who are immunocompromised or 65 and older should get priority vaccines, not young, healthy inmates, who are less likely to die from contracting the virus.

"The issue isn't whether or not folks can get infected, the only issue is will those infected be at a higher risk for death," said 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler. "This isn't an issue of whether they are in prison or not, this is an issue of straight up science."

Brauchler has been vocal about his position on the issue this month, even writing an op-ed in the Denver Post.

"I would much rather vaccinate Santa Claus who is elderly, than the young porch pirate who steals gifts off of your front porch," Brauchler said.

So far, seven states have prioritized COVID-19 vaccines for prison inmates, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. Several physicians from Yale and Columbia Universities are also advising state governments to consider prioritizing the vaccine for inmates.

CBS4 has reached out to the governor's office for a comment about the Black Caucus's recent letter, but has not yet received a response.