Alabama offering $5 in canteen credit to prisoners who get vaccinated

As coronavirus cases in Alabama prisons continue to rise, the state Department of Corrections is offering incarcerated individuals incentives to get vaccinated.

As coronavirus cases in Alabama prisons continue to rise, the state Department of Corrections is offering incarcerated individuals incentives to get vaccinated. Both inmates who get the vaccine and those who've already gotten it will get $5 in canteen credit. The initiative comes as the Alabama Department of Corrections reports a total of 27 people -- nine inmates and 18 staff members -- tested positive for COVID-19 last week, more than four times the amount of cases reported the previous week. The department said no inmates have participated in the prison's free vaccination program since July 23, and the vaccination rate for Alabama inmates inside correctional facilities is 62%. "A confined correctional environment in which social distancing is challenging and all communicable diseases, to include COVID-19, spread more easily is -- put simply -- starkly different than a community environment," department spokesperson Kristi Simpson told ABC News, adding that incarcerated people don't have the "freedoms available to free citizens to ensure public safety."