As the state of NSW focuses on opening up from the COVID lockdown and living with the virus, prisoners in this state's correctional facilities are already having to do that, but a stark difference from the outside is most remain unprotected, and this is not by choice.
The outbreak in the NSW prison system became apparent in late August, and all correctional facilities have been in lockdown since then.
Inmates can't socially distance, while other protective measures are lacking, and the 24 hour confinement some endure is a measure akin to torture.
In late August, only 21 percent of inmates and 40 percent of staff had been vaccinated. This is despite ATAGI having cited prisoners as a priority population for inoculation. And as of last week, around a third of the 13,000 people detained in state correctional facilities had received two jabs.
