SARS-CoV2 vaccination roll-out in European prisons

Abstract

As SARS-CoV2 mass vaccination campaigns are rolled out, there is debate about which population groups to prioritize. Prison staff and prison residents should be considered a priority. Prison staff are essential workers and absenteeism should be minimized to enable safe and decent regimes. They play a pivotal role in SARS-CoV2 transmission within prison, contributing to disease spread. Prison residents are characterized by high burden of underlying disease, including non-communicable diseases. Furthermore, it is difficult to effectively protect prison populations by means of infection prevention and control and non-pharmaceutical measures, due to the constraints of the prison system.Evidence on the inclusion of prison population within national SARS-CoV2 vaccination plans, level of implementation and models of vaccine delivery in prison settings is being collected through a questionnaire developed and disseminated within the European research project “Reaching the hard-to-reach: Increasing access and vaccine uptake among prison population in Europe -RISE-Vac”.There are notable differences between countries across Europe regarding inclusion in and priority attributed to prison residents and staff within national vaccination plans. Several challenges have been identified for the implementation of SARS-CoV2 vaccination programs in prison.Suboptimal healthcare delivery and information systems with poor links to community systems are a major issue to overcome to ensure accurate and timely monitoring of vaccination. Prison residents are highly heterogeneous when it comes to age, ethnicity, level of education and health literacy. Ensuring their meaningful engagement is key to high vaccine uptake. This includes appropriate information and communication strategies prior to and at the point of vaccine delivery, covering inter alia possible side effects and informed consent.