As the vaccine rollout gets underway, one thing stands out as cruel beyond words: Gov. Charlie Baker has decided that incarcerated murderers and rapists will be vaccinated before most law-abiding elders.
At first blush it might make sense to vaccinate prisoners before the elderly who are not in nursing homes because inmates live in close quarters. But the rate of infection and deaths in jails and prisons comes in far behind the elderly.
Weekly town and cluster report
The state listed 1,067 infections in “jails, prisons, houses of corrections, correctional treatment centers” in the most recent weekly COVID-19 tally and 3,477 in elderly “long term care facilities.” Add to that the CDC report showing 8 out of 10 deaths from coronavirus in the U.S. have been in adults 65 years old and older.
Officials can keep prisoners apart, test everyone, take steps to ensure that items coming into the prison are not infected. When prisoners do get COVID-19, they usually survive. The science doesn’t justify prioritizing prisoners, especially considering that many were released from prison months ago in order to minimize the risk of infection.
I might have supported vaccinating prisoners before the elderly if it meant convicts already released would be sent back to prison, but the governor’s plan doesn’t include vaccinating and reincarcerating.
Massachusetts has a large elderly population. More than 1.1 million people are over the age of 65, and 30% of them live alone. Older people depend on contact with other human beings to survive mentally. It is literally torture to keep them locked indoors for one moment more than necessary.
At least prisoners have each other to talk to. And prisoners have access to technology so they can communicate with friends and family. Many elderly in Massachusetts are not technologically capable of managing online relationships; a small percentage don’t even have telephones. For some, simply walking to the local store or having a conversation with a neighbor is a life-enhancing event, but they can’t enjoy even the simplest outdoor task because they’re afraid of dying.
Staying inside, alone, may be keeping seniors safe from COVID-19, but Charlie Baker doesn’t seem to understand that isolation is a significant cause of suffering among the elderly. Studies show that isolation causes cognitive decline and depression, which contribute to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and overall diminished quality of life.
Charlie Baker should make more of an effort to listen to people. One elderly woman I spoke with was nearly in tears after talking to her state rep’s office. They told her she would not likely get a vaccine until February. When she asked why prisoners were prioritized over the elderly, she was told that people who congregate have a higher risk of infection. But when she pointed out that the risk for prisoners was actually lower than the general population, she heard only silence.
Treating the elderly (at high risk of infection and death) as less worthy of protection from COVID-19 than convicted murderers and rapists (at low risk of infection and death) means Charlie Baker believes guilty criminals are more valuable than law-abiding elderly.
Charlie Baker would be wise to remember that the elderly vote in droves.
Wendy Murphy is a lawyer and legal scholar who writes an occasional column for the Herald.
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December 29, 2020 at 04:17AM
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Put all elderly at front of line for vaccines before inmates - Boston Herald
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