When you have something like coronavirus, which is a respiratory virus, and it spreads

quickly from person to person, especially in close settings, you can imagine what a set

up a jail system faces.

It was very clear from the start of the pandemic that the New York City jail system needed

to be a focus of public health efforts to contain and prevent the really tragic potential

outcomes.

Public health experts widely agree that people who live in correctional facilities run a

higher risk of contracting and dying from the virus.

That's why advocates argue they should get priority for COVID-19 vaccines.

But as states expand access to the vaccine, many people who are incarcerated around the

country still haven't been able to get a shot.

So today, we're going to hear from a doctor about the struggle to vaccinate the incarcerated

and why it's dangerous to exclude this high risk population from the vaccine rollouts.

I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, and this is coronavirus,

back to the first.

Nationwide, by the week of April 20th, 25% of people who are incarcerated have received

at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

That's according to data now collected by the Marshall Project and the Associated Press.

The New York City system was the first jail system in the state of New York that we're

aware of to start vaccinating patients in our population.

That's Dr. Zachary Rossner.

He's the Chief of Medicine with the New York City Correctional Health Services.

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