Oregon prisons to get 1,500 H1N1 vaccines

Thousands of people who want the H1N1 vaccine have been denied the shot, but some prisoners across Oregon will get the vaccine before many other people.

The state said Tuesday it is following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines and that means making sure all people in high-priority groups are vaccinated first, which will mean issuing the vaccine to some inmates and corrections officers from Oregon’s prisons.

“From a public health perspective, they’re not being treated any differently than anybody else,” said Dr. Paul Cieslak of Oregon Public Health.

So Oregon’s prisons will get 1,500 doses for its 14 institutions.

“Our priority groups are based on who’s at high risk for influenza and not on where they live or anything else,” Cieslak said after being asked how to explain the vaccinations going to inmates instead of people who have been waiting in long lines.

Those still struggling to get the vaccine have mixed feelings about the situation.

“Given that there’s a lot of citizens out here that are upstanding citizens who have a strong need for it, I would like to see another way around,” said Rich Young, a parent waiting in a Hillsboro line for the vaccine.

“Talk about the cost if it does spread throughout the prisons – the cost of curing people that we’re putting them in the hospital if they get sick – that’s a great idea,” said Jonathan Ledbetter who was also waiting in line for the vaccine.

The Department of Corrections said so far they don’t have any confirmed H1N1 in the prisons, but they do have eight cases of flu-like symptoms.