Westmoreland County will provide $25 in commissary credit to prison inmates who receive a covid-19 vaccine.

Members of the county prison board approved the plan Monday.

“We’re still working out the final details, but this will be for all inmates,” county Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher said.

Vaccine doses will be provided by Hayden’s Pharmacy and offered to existing inmates and new prisoners when they are brought to the facility.

Warden Bryan Kline said it’s unclear when the vaccination program will begin but the incentives are expected to entice a significant number inmates to receive the shots when they become available. Inmates will receive the full $25 credit for vaccinations, unlike other financial deposits, which are docked by 50% to pay for room and board expenses and court costs.

The prison’s commissary sells hygiene, clothing, food and other comfort items as well as telephone calling cards.

As of Monday, there were 481 inmates in the Hempfield lockup.

The incentive offered to county inmates mirrors a plan set by the state Department of Corrections to vaccinate prisoners in the state correctional institutions.

County officials said inmates likely will receive vaccinations that require two doses. The pharmacy will monitor and contact inmates to arrange appointments if they are released from the prison before receiving second doses.

The incentives will apply only to inmates. Guards and other prison staffers have been eligible to receive vaccinations for the past several months. Kline said the county has not tracked how many guards and employees are vaccinated.

The inmate vaccination plan comes as the county continues to struggle keeping the coronavirus out of the prison.

Kline said Monday there are 24 inmates with active cases of the virus, including one who was diagnosed Monday morning. Sixty-four inmates have recovered from covid-19 infections during a second flare-up of the virus at the facility.

The first round of infections hit the prison in late November. That surge resulted in more than 150 coronavirus cases among inmates and staff. The virus seemed to be purged from the prison in February, but new cases were reported in March and are ongoing.

Active coronavirus cases have remained steady at about 20 to 25 for the past several weeks.

“The case today came out of the unit where we’ve had previous cases,” Kline said.

New inmates are quarantined for two weeks and required to test negative for the virus before they are released into the general population.

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