CHICAGO – Last month, the Illinois Department of Public Health released its plans for COVID-19 vaccination rollouts in 2021. State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago) and State Representative Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) issued the following statement in support of the classification of inmates and prison staff into a higher priority category:

“COVID-19 has been tearing through Illinois prisons virtually unchecked, which puts the people incarcerated within them, as well as the support staffs who keep them running, at a much greater risk of contracting the disease. Prison conditions do not always afford the opportunity to socially distance, so providing vaccines for these individuals is likely the best way to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

“No one deserves to be at a higher risk of contracting a life-threatening disease simply because of their station in life or because of where they work. Ensuring the quick and efficient distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine to prison populations and staffs is the moral thing to do, and we fully support IDPH’s plan to do so.”

The full version of IDPH’s vaccine plan can be found here.