Prisons can easily become a reservoir for COVID-19 infection to the community as turnover is high and transmission can occur at multiple points including via staff. In addition, people in prison have higher rates of many physical and mental health comorbidities, consistently shown to be more common than in community persons of similar age. Thus, the paper recommends a coordinated approach to managing outbreaks in these settings with prisons and public health authorities working closely. Our research suggests that people in prison should be among the first groups to receive any COVID-19 vaccine to protect against infection and to prevent further spread of the disease. The research involved a collaboration between infectious diseases and mental health researchers in the US, UK and China, and was partly funded by the Wellcome Trust.
