RALEIGH, N.C. — COVID-19 vaccinations have begun in the North Carolina prison system.
Prison officials received the first allocation of the Moderna vaccine on Wednesday and began giving shots right away.
The vaccine-supply is limited. Staff members who work in COVID-19 housing units or who work directly with COVID-positive inmates are getting vaccinated first, as well as staff and offenders who are 75 years and older. The age limit will drop to 65 and above as the vaccine becomes more widely available.
After that, staff members and inmates who are in Groups 1 and 2 will get them, according to the plan laid out by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
Many of the prisons' health care staff already been vaccinated.
Officials say the vaccine is currently voluntary.
