Tama County sheriff: No COVID-19 vaccines yet for prisoners

TOLEDO, Iowa (AP) — An east-central Iowa county sheriff has confirmed that Tama County inmates have not been given COVID-19 vaccines, saying only one inmate has asked for it. Tama County Sheriff Dennis Kucera said Thursday his jail has no onsite medical staff that could give the vaccine and would have to take inmates out of the jail to get one, “which is not in the best interest of the inmate’s health and security.” Kucera says inmates have little risk of exposure, because each prisoner is quarantined for 14 days before being placed into the general population. Kucera also noted that no Tama County Jail inmate or staff member has contracted the virus since the pandemic began.