Grant funds commissary incentive to encourage Kan. inmates to get vaccinated

By Kylie Cameron
KWCH

SEDGWICK COUNTY, Kan. — This month, the Sedgwick County Jail began offering a vaccination incentive to inmates.

Inmates will receive $10 in commissary items if they get vaccinated.

“The goal is to mitigate COVID-19 in the jail as much as possible. It’s a correctional environment,” Lt. Jared Schechter with the jail said. “We’re running at capacity or more above capacity today on inmates, and so social distancing is very difficult to do in a correctional environment.”

Schechter said that the new program is funded by a grant through Kansas Beats the Virus, not by taxpayer dollars. He also said the facility’s commissary provider offered to match the $2,000 grant.

Full story: Sedgwick County Jail offers vaccine incentive to inmates, sees increase in vaccinations