There is still a prison pandemic – IRPP

March 7, 2022

Depopulation with community supports and vaccination remain urgent needs for people incarcerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By March 2021, it was clear that jails, prisons and penitentiaries across Canada were significant vectors of COVID-19 during the second wave of the pandemic, with infections among imprisoned people and staff increasing in unprecedented ways. As the Omicron variant began rapidly spreading in our communities in December 2021, authorities were warned that without reducing prison populations and ramping up vaccinations, imprisoned people and prison staff would face another tsunami of COVID-19. Unfortunately, for those impacted by human caging the emergence of the more transmissible Omicron variant coupled with a punitive injustice system and government inaction has again led to another unprecedented increase in COVID-19 transmission behind bars.

Read More: https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/march-2022/prison-covid-19-cases/