First: He's probably been told that he can get the vaccine just fine which is why he puts the condition of having a "one-on-one" there. He was likely told based on a doctor reviewing his medical history and condition.
However, healthcare for the incarcerated in general is pretty poor. In this regard, he's not really outside the norm.
Yeah I agree we don’t know the full circumstances. But the data coming out of the pandemic in particular has been a mess. Like the stories of inmates having to improvise masks.
what hn imagines: a nurse or prison paramedic taking the concern seriously and relaying it to a doctor familiar with the patient's charts and medical history "I checked with your doctor and he said it's fine"
reality: a prison guard with his own health problems from a TBI in iraq who did AED cert for the extra $.50/h just meeting this patient for the first time "I checked with your doctor and he said it's fine"
Yeah I'm gonna trust the prisoner's estimation of how trustworthy the medical advice he's receiving is.
Reality: a nurse relays the inmate's concerns to a doctor overwhelmed with patients who is not familiar with this particular inmate's medical background, unless that inmate is already a regular in the infirmary.
Prison doctors are actually doctors. But like most doctors these days, they're usually too overwhelmed with patients and too underwhelmed with resources to do much more than triage.
The vaccine is safe for almost everyone. There are incredibly few people who would have adverse reaction. You are way more likely to have a severe case of COVID if/when you catch it than you will have an adverse reaction to the vaccine.
Those are simply the facts. Borne out by the billions of doses that have been given out so far.
This is a man who has likely severely damaged his liver through his lifestyle. But, here, this is where he has "concerns". Fuck that noise.
You are going to catch covid. I am going to catch covid. Everyone is going to catch covid. At 410 lbs, life is a death trap, prison doubly so, vaccine or not.
However, healthcare for the incarcerated in general is pretty poor. In this regard, he's not really outside the norm.