As Phase 1B of COVID-19 vaccinations are set to begin in early February across Iowa, officials at the Scott County Jail are preparing for their turn for immunization.
Correctional inmates and officers are in tier five of Phase 1B, which puts them at the end of the list for this phase. First responders and frontline essential workers are also included in Phase 1B.
Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane says there's usually about 250 inmates in custody in the jail at a time.
"We're estimating that about 40 percent of those inmates will accept the vaccination," Sheriff Lane says.
That estimate is based off those who opt to get other vaccines, like the flu shot. Sheriff Lane says he had hoped his 100 correctional officers and staffers would be in line earlier, in tier one with first responders instead of tier five.
"Those first responders can create their own social distancing and prepare for situations where they may need to protect themselves," he says. "Within the Scott County Jail, (correctional officers) don't have that luxury. They are in the living environments with the inmates."
Sheriff Lane says they've been lucky not to see an outbreak, which would impact operations. That makes vaccinations within the facility crucial.
"It's critical infrastructure, so they have to continue," Scott County Health Department Director Ed Rivers says. "They can't close them down so we have have to have people to run them."
Sheriff Lane knows it's a polarizing topic that has generated discussions about it within the facility.
"We've had discussions about it and have mixed emotions that some inmates are ahead of the line of other people within the community, particularly those that are elderly," he says.
Sheriff Lane says these vaccinations will take the pressure off staff and inmates. He adds that there's been about 12 positive COVID-19 cases among inmates in the last ten months, and 20 cases among correctional officers and staff.
He anticipates vaccinations to begin sometime in March.