By Noelle Crombie
OregonLive.com
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon Department of Corrections on Monday said it had received enough doses of the Moderna Therapeutics coronavirus vaccine to treat 400 workers and inmates.
The agency said nurses, doctors and corrections officers who are in close contact with infected prisoners are the highest priority for the vaccines. The state said a small number of inmates whose work assignments involve cleaning units that house infected inmates are also in the high-priority group.
Dr. Warren Roberts, the agency’s chief medical director, was among the first Department of Corrections employees to receive the vaccine Monday. In a statement released by the agency, Roberts encouraged all employees of the prison system and inmates to get vaccinated as soon as the shots are available.
“I’ve seen first-hand the epidemic in the prison setting and know we need to fight back with all tools available,” Roberts said. “Some of the worst outbreaks in Oregon have been in institutional settings and this virus does not stay behind the prison walls, it seeps out into the surrounding community.”
The pandemic has swept through prison systems here and nationally. In Oregon, 2,079 inmates have tested positive for the virus and 20 have died. Another 536 employees have also tested positive.
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(c)2020 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.)