The Denver Sheriff's Department has just announced a new program to incentivize vaccination in Denver Downtown Detention Center and Denver County Jail: ramen and instant coffee. In exchange for getting vaccinated, inmates can receive up to 10 packets of ramen noodles, or five packets of ramen, as well as some instant coffee. Inmates that have already received their doses of vaccine will also be given the items.
"In jails across America, vaccine incentive programs for individuals in custody are working and we decided to move forward with implementing one as well," Sheriff Elias Diggins said in a press release. "We will evaluate the program monthly and hope that it will make a difference as we all continue to combat COVID."
The facilities had a spike in COVID-19 cases in early October with 184 cases among around 1,500 inmates, higher than at any other point in the pandemic.
Bernard Hurley, the Denver developer who previously spent a decade in federal prison on a drug conviction, said noodles are a staple of jails and prisons.
"Typically, it's sold in the commissary, or prison stores in the institution. People sometimes will substitute ramen noodles for dinner, or make stuff with other ingredients they get out of commissary," Hurley explained. "They're also kind of a means of currency in jail and in prison. It doesn't surprise me that they would be using [them as an incentive]."
Overall, Hurley said the new program was a good idea.
"I think anything we can do to get people vaccinated is a positive thing," he said, especially because inmates are at a greater risk of contracting the virus. "You have to consider that environment; people are on top of each other."
Other institutions, such as the Maryland Department of Correctional Services and Public Safety, have offered similar incentives in the form of snack packages and other food items. Their program was first introduced back in May 2021.
