Just under one-third of Castlerea prisoners have not received Covid vaccine

Almost one-third of inmates at Castlerea Prison in Roscommon are unvaccinated.

The facility is currently home to approximately 270 prisoners, with around 81 of these having refused a Covid vaccine.

Nationally 6,486 individual vaccines including both 1st and 2nd have been administered to the Irish Prison population.

Prisons have been areas of concern throughout the pandemic due to the close quarters nature of the population.

In-person visits to Castlerea Prison are currently allowed with strict health restrictions in place such as mask-wearing, social distancing and Covid cert requirements.

This month saw the first death of an inmate from Covid -19 nationwide at the Midlands Prison in Portlaoise.