In episode two of Inside Story, our new video series designed for people in prisons and jails across the country, we examine the harsh impacts of the pandemic on incarcerated people and explore how the COVID-19 vaccines are being administered behind bars.
Host Lawrence Bartley speaks with reporter Nicole Lewis about her work documenting the lives of incarcerated people over the past year, and reflects on the long history of mistrust that exists between prisoners and their jailers when it comes to medical care. He hears from Jermaine Archer, who contracted COVID-19 twice while on the inside. Bartley also speaks with Dr. Leah Rorvig of Amend, a correctional health and human rights organization. Rorvig explains how the vaccines work, debunks some of the myths surrounding them and reflects on why it is so essential that people living and working in our nation’s prisons are inoculated against COVID-19.
If you are incarcerated or work or volunteer in a correctional facility and are interested in showing Inside Story in your prison or jail, please contact lbartley@themarshallproject.org.
Host and Executive Producer Lawrence Bartley
Director Donald Washington, Jr.
Director of Photography Adam Giese
Additional Photography Donald Washington, Jr.
Editor Donald Washington, Jr.
Consulting Producers Ruth Baldwin and Geraldine Sealey
Archival Getty, Pond5, Colorado Department of Corrections, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Prison Law Office, U.S. District Court, Justin Cook, Joshua Lott, Edmund D. Fountain, Brad Ogbonna
Special thanks to Amend, Colorado Department of Corrections, Carroll Bogert, Nicole Lewis, Jermaine Archer, Dr. Leah Rorvig, Max McClellan, Celina Fang