Prisoners in England should start being offered coronavirus vaccines from today, the prisons minister has confirmed.
Lucy Frazer confirmed that people in prisons in England would begin getting jabs from today - and the process had already begun in Wales.
A total of 4,800 prisoners have contracted the virus and at least 71 inmates have died since the start of the pandemic.
According to the Ministry of Justice, there were 2,400 positive cases recorded in December, a rise of nearly 70% in a single month.
Quizzed about the roll out of vaccines in prisons, Ms Frazer said that they were underway in Wales and would begin in England today.
She said: “The vaccination rollout in prisons has commenced in Wales and should be commencing today in England.”
Asked if prisoners would get the jab ahead of other people, Ms Frazer said: “It is not true that people in prison are being vaccinated over and above or in any sort of priority against those in the community.
“People in prison will be vaccinated in line with the community, as they should be.
“So those who are eligible to be vaccinated, in line with priorities set out by the vaccination committee, the JCVI, will be vaccinated as they would be vaccinated if they were living in the community.”
