Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NY Quietly Stopped Vaccinating People In State Prisons—But Promised To Resume After Questioning
By
Caroline Lewis
and
Gwynne Hogan
Published Apr 21, 2021
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Caroline Lewis
and
Gwynne Hogan
Published Apr 21, 2021
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
COVID-19 continues to spread in New York prisons, but the effort to vaccinate the 32,000 people incarcerated in state-run facilities is currently on hold, Gothamist/WNYC has learned. The stoppage comes mere weeks after a state judge ruled that withholding the coronavirus vaccines from inmates violated their Constitutional rights to equal protection under the law.
The state Department of Correction and Community Supervision cited the federally-recommended pause on the Johnson and Johnson vaccine as the cause for the interruption. After an initial inquiry, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration did not appear to have a comprehensive plan for restarting the vaccination effort, but DOCCS provided concrete details shortly after Gothamist/WNYC pressed the governor about the topic during a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
DOCCS had previously offered the Moderna vaccine in prisons, soon after the state’s rollout began in December. During those early days, the Cuomo administration limited who was eligible to get shots while incarcerated—at times only offering doses to vulnerable inmates weeks after their counterparts gained similar rights outside of prison walls. State Judge Alison Y. Tuitt deemed this policy unlawful in late March, and Cuomo pledged to vaccinate all incarcerated people.
State prisons then switched to Johnson and Johnson earlier this month when New York moved to universal access. That shot is the only vaccine brand currently being offered to inmates, except for those getting a second dose of Moderna, DOCCS said. On April 13th, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised a pause on administering Johnson and Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine after finding very rare instances of atypical blood clots among its recipients.
DOCCS initially responded Wednesday to questions about how it would handle the disruption by saying that it was working with the state Health Department to “evaluate all options as the pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine continues.”
After checking with the Department of Health, one of its spokespeople replied, “We have instructed providers to cease any administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and to hold all doses at proper temperatures until we receive further instruction.” But at his press conference Wednesday, Governor Cuomo implied that Pfizer and Moderna are already widely available in prisons. His comments contradicted the information provided by DOCCS.
“Johnson and Johnson is on pause, as it is all across the nation,” Cuomo said. “Otherwise, we're continuing with the Pfizer and Moderna that we've received.”
Clinton Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison run by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, June 15th 2015
Mark Lennihan/AP/Shutterstock
Following the presser, DOCCS provided an update, telling Gothamist/WNYC that “using the Moderna vaccine, the Department will resume offering vaccinations to the incarcerated population next week.”
Sophie Gebreselassie, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, says she has heard anecdotally from incarcerated people about vaccinations being halted because of the Johnson and Johnson pause. Since the pause started a week ago, 29 state inmates caught the coronavirus, as the germ continues to spread in these congregate settings. Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, a women’s prison for those who are pregnant and mothers with young infants, is currently in the midst of an outbreak. To date, 16% of the women incarcerated there have received one vaccine shot, and another 9% are fully covered.
“People in the community can choose which vaccine to get and have the option to go to different providers,” Gebreselassie said. “People in prison are at the whim of DOCCS. [The state] needs to develop a plan for these sorts of pauses or supply issues that I imagine could come up over the next several months and the next rounds of vaccines.”
Some 21% of people incarcerated in state prisons have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, compared with 42.6% of the general population in New York state. About one in 10 inmates have been fully vaccinated. Since the vaccine rollout began in mid-December, 4,335 incarcerated people tested positive for COVID-19, and 17 died.
Tagged
Governor Andrew Cuomo
COVID-19
coronavirus
state prison
new york
vaccine
jails
prison
Caroline Lewis
Caroline Lewis is on the health care beat for WNYC and Gothamist. She has covered COVID, a nurses' strike, the overdose crisis and New York’s marijuana legalization effort, and spent a year investigating patients' medical bills. She always wants to hear about how everyday New Yorkers experience the health system. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
Read more
Gwynne Hogan
Gwynne Hogan is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYC tow companies busted for ripping off drivers must give $67K in refunds, city says
Mayor Mamdani has expanded enforcement on towing scams, but the unlicensed towing industry remains largely unregulated.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Oct 2, 2026 at 4:47 p.m. ET
Off-duty NYPD officer stabbed in the Bronx, police say
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Commissioner Jessica Tisch planned to visit the officer in the hospital.
By
Ryan Kost
News
Off-duty NYPD officer stabbed in the Bronx, police say
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Commissioner Jessica Tisch planned to visit the officer in the hospital.
By
Ryan Kost
DOC negligence factored in death at Rikers' Bellevue hospital outpost, jail officials say
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Conductor on NYC subway that dragged man to death may have skipped safety check, source says
By
Stephen Nessen
NYPD still searching for man who threw burning substance on victim in East Harlem
By
Ryan Kost
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .