BOSTON (CBS) — Inmates in the Massachusetts Department of Correction can get a week taken off their prison sentence by getting the coronavirus vaccine. Commissioner Carol Mici made the announcement in a letter to inmates last week.
“I have determined that receiving the vaccine is significantly valuable to rehabilitation and will therefore be offering Earned Good Time,” she wrote.
Inmates will be required to read educational literature and watch videos about the vaccine, and must receive both doses. They will then be awarded 7.5 days of Earned Good Time.
Massachusetts is one of just a few states offering inmates the vaccine in Phase 1, Mici said. So far, more than 3,500 inmates in the state have received their first dose of the vaccine.
“These facilities are prioritized because they serve vulnerable populations in densely populated settings,” Gov. Charlie Baker has said about prisons and other congregate care facilities.
Inmates have been provided informational videos about the vaccine since December, including a conversation between Rev. Liz Walker, Rev. Gloria White-Hammond and Dr. Anthony Fauci addressing skepticism about the vaccine and health care industry.
The dangling carrot of death. Will any bite?
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Right. Because when you die your prison sentence is shortened.