Gov. Gavin Newsom has joined the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in appealing a statewide order that all prison employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Newsom and the corrections department as asking that a September ruling by U.S. District Judge Jon S. Tigar pause pending appeals. Sacramento has expressed concerns that many correctional personnel will resign if they are forced to submit to vaccination.
Mass departures would be a crisis for the state’s penal system, which currently houses nearly 100,000 inmates. If staff becomes stretched too thin, it could have major ramifications for the wellbeing of the incarcerated—prisoners could be locked in their cells for much of the day.
“Since early in this pandemic, CDCR has implemented rigorous COVID safety measures, including mandatory masking, twice weekly testing for staff and the early rollout of vaccines for incarcerated people and staff,” a spokesperson for Newsom’s office said, pointing out that 78% of prisoners and 64% of non-officer prison staffers have been fully vaccinated.
But of Califronia’s more than 28,000 sworn correctional officers, only 51% are fully vaccinated.
Newsom’s support for appeal of the September ruling comes at a time of continued COVID-related stress on the state’s prison system. There have been more than 240 inmate deaths and 48 staff deaths attributed to COVID-19 since last year. Twenty of those deaths occurred in the last three months alone, after vaccines had become readily available across the state.
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