GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — Back in 2020 the Guilford County Detention Center in Downtown Greensboro experienced a major COVID-19 outbreak.
Starting at the beginning of this month The Guilford County Sheriff's Office began offering COVID vaccinations for inmates in the Greensboro and High Point Detention Centers.
Today we spoke with Captain John Sellers from the Guilford Country Sheriff's Office, about how and why this program came about.
According to Captain Sellers the healthy and safety of our community is the most important factor to why inmates now have the option for vaccination.
"The main goal is to protect the inmates from Coronavirus. To put their mind at ease and make them feel comfortable. Being housed in the jail for inmates is difficult. There are a lot unknowns for them about Coronavirus and how they can be protected so by providing the vaccination we can put their mind at ease that not only are they protected but the people around them are protected as well."
Inmates received the The Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the beginning of the month. It's important to note that these inmates were vaccinated BEFORE the CDC called for the pause of it's use today.
According to Captain Sellers, no more vaccines have been given out, and Guilford County detention center has not seen any adverse reactions to the doses administered.
"As of today the CDC and the FDA have unfortunately suspended the use of the J&J vaccine, so we're going to work closely with emergency management and the health department to see what we can do going forward."