In under-vaccinated Bosnia, inmate population stands out

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnia's rate of vaccination against the coronavirus is one of the lowest in Europe, but one population in the Balkan country has bucked the national trend: its prison inmates.

Over 80% of the 2,000 men and women serving sentences in Bosnia’s 13 prisons have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. That compares to slightly over 27% for the nation as a whole, a rate that results from a lack of takers, not an absence of shots.

Bosnia and most of the rest of the Balkans struggled at the beginning of the year to secure vaccines but had a steady supply of jabs by late spring. While the public demand for shots quickly slowed, interest remained high inside correctional facilities, where authorities say getting vaccinated remains voluntary.

The country’s largest penal institution, the maximum-security prison in the city of Zenica, is a case in point. Over 90% of the prison's 600 inmates and over 60% of the staff have received two shots after an initial drive to encourage vaccine uptake.

“We are pretty much done,” warden Redzo Kahric said.

While the overall vaccination rate among all prison employees in Bosnia so far has been lower than among inmates, it is still more than twice as high than the rate in the general population.

Kahric said that getting vaccinated is voluntary for inmates at Zenica and Bosnia's other prisons. He thinks so many inmates submitted to shots as a matter of convenience; unlike the public at large, prisoners cannot bend or ignore anti-infection rules and must remain quarantined if they come into contact with an infected person.

Prisoners who are eligible for weekend leave also are tested before and after their trips outside. The spread of the virus appears to have generally been better controlled inside...