People incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison are allowed to interact with each other more now that much of the population has been vaccinated.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, UCSF Infectious Disease Specialist, told KCBS Radio about 80% of the San Quentin population has been inoculated.
Jesse Ayers, who lived through one of the country’s worst COVID-19 outbreaks during his incarceration at San Quentin, jumped at the chance to get vaccinated.
"I was 100% sure I was going to take it. No doubt whatsoever," Ayers said. "Like, whatever you got that’s going to help me, I’m going to take it."
Chin-Hong and other doctors recently volunteered to speak to the remaining hold outs at the prison. The session was organized by people incarcerated at San Quentin, who invited the doctors to speak to them about the vaccine. The medical experts all personally answered questions from people in the justice system, who asked about a wide range of virus-related topics including variants, side effects and more.
"(A lot of questions really hit down at) the role of structural racism and whether or not there were communities of color included in the vaccine trials and whether or not there were investigators who were from communities of color," Chin-Hong said.
After the session, the moderator asked those who were previously hesitant and had changed their minds to stand up.
"Some men actually stood up after we had done the session, which was remarkable and I think (in a) really visible way showed there might have been some of the men who were on the fence still, but I think seeing some of their peers stand visibly really I think was a powerful moment," Chin-Hong said.
The group's question-and-answer session is just one example of the push to educate people in the prison system about the vaccine. Dr. Leah Rorvig is the Director of Health Education at Amend at UCSF, a program that focuses on changing correctional culture. The program is working to get information about vaccine safety and efficacy into prisons through printed fact sheets and answers to FAQs.
"We have heard excellent feedback that people are so happy to receive outside information, especially from an academic institution they feel they can trust about the vaccine," Dr. Horvig told KCBS Radio’s "As Prescribed" earlier last month.
With amount of vaccinated people continuing to grow within San Quentin, Ayers said for the first time, different units are allowed to mix outdoors in the yard.
"Just being able to go out and see other guys from other guys from other buildings and being able to hug people you haven’t hugged in over a year, it just shocked me how depressed I was and I didn’t even realize it until we go outside and it’s like everybody’s just elated to say hi," Ayers said.
