Multnomah County Corrections Health reported this week that 63 percent of adults in custody at the Justice Center and Inverness Jail had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Forty-two percent of the 726 people incarcerated at that time were fully vaccinated.
The number is a revision downward from earlier counts. During a quality improvement review of vaccination rates, Corrections Health performed a manual count of health records for each individual currently incarcerated to determine current vaccination status.
Corrections Health will continue that manual review process to document vaccination rates as a snapshot of current jail population until such time that it can be automated and verified for accuracy. This should eliminate significant errors moving forward. Multnomah County has prioritized vaccination efforts in this setting as an important way to prevent outbreaks and blunt the impacts of isolation and quarantine. That said, several layers of COVID precautions remain in place and are not changed based on vaccination rates.
Corrections Health continues to offer at least one vaccine clinic a week in each facility and is exploring other options to increase opportunities for vaccination. Corrections Health staff continue to encourage vaccination against COVID-19 and influenza whenever appropriate during clinical visits with adults in custody.