This story was told by a person incarcerated at Pelican Bay.
Caller: Yeah. So, basically, Pelican Bay has pretty much had like a delta variant outbreak for like the last two months – for like the last two months.
UCI: Mmhmm.
So the prison has really been on lockdown for like the last two months, off and on. You know what I’m saying? Because it’s a large number of officers that are refusing to get vaccinated. You know what I’m saying?
And then, you know what I’m saying, a lot of officers are testing positive and still coming to work. So you know what I’m saying? The officers are coming in here, spreading the virus around.
And, you know, it’s really been a large number of officers tested positive and, also, you know, spreading that, spreading that to the inmates. You know what I’m saying? And, yeah. Yeah. It’s very –
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: Yeah. So, yeah. It’s been going on for like the last two months, though. You know what I’m saying? So –
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: You know what I’m saying. It’s a large number of officers that they basically said that, once the state mandate still detect the virus, a lot of officers are saying that they’re not going to take it. So like I guess they would go on strike or whatever case may be.
And, once they go on strike, that right there is going to effect the, is going to effect the general population here. Because, you know what I’m saying, the officers – because the prison is going to be on officer shortage. So it’s going to be no programming here and shit like that. You know what I’m saying?
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, it’s definitely a – it’s definitely an outbreak up here, you know what I mean?
UCI: And in what ways has the outbreak changed the conditions of how you – how you’re living? Has there been reduced programming or anything like that?
Caller: Yup. Yup. It’s been – it’s been absolutely no program. Know what I’m saying? It’s been – it’s been no school. It’s been no religious services. You know what I’m saying?
The only program that’s currently operating right now is medical services. You know what I’m saying? And even medical services is being cut short. So they’re really only addressing like serious medical conditions.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: You know? Yeah, yeah. So, yeah. So, yeah. It’s really no type of programming here. You know what I’m saying?
UCI: Yeah.
Caller: And it’s really – it’s very true – it’s really been like that for like the last, for like the last year and a half.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: You know what I’m saying? Now they do let us get outside recreation. But that might be like once a week. You know what I’m saying?
UCI: Yeah.
Caller: Yeah. Yeah. That might be last for – yeah – for like once a week. So, over the course of the last year and a half, you know what I’m saying, I’ve been – I’ve been filing like several complaints. You know what I’m saying? The complaints are called, “602s”.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: A 602 is a CDC complaint. You know what I’m saying? So, over the past – over the course of the last year-and-a-half, I’ve been filing like a billion 602s, complaining about different issues, like officers refusing to wear their masks when they’re passing out the food.
You know what I’m saying? You still got, you still got vaccinated inmates being housed with unvaccinated inmates. You know what I’m saying? It’s like all type of incidents, not – I’ve been – yeah. So basically, I’ve been complaining about all types of stuff.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: And I got like a underlying health condition, which, if I were to pick up COVID in the future, it would like increase my, it would increase my chances of severe illness. I’ve been – I’ve been complaining about a whole lot of stuff. You know what I’m saying? But it’s like Pelican Bay does what they want to do, though.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: You know what I’m saying? And then, they’re supposed to do weekly COVID tests, which they’re not doing. You know what I’m saying?
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: They’re supposed to do weekly COVID-19 testing. But they never do. You know what I’m saying? And I think they’re doing that because they’re trying to undercount – I think they’re trying to undercount the number of people who are actually testing positive. You know what I’m saying?
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: So, in an effort to do that, they refuse to give weekly COVID, you know, COVID testing. You understand what I’m saying?
UCI: Yeah. Mmhmm.
Caller: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that, right there, is just a – that’s just a little brief summary of some of the stuff that I’ve complained about. But I’ve been complaining about way more than that, though.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: You know what I’m saying? You know? Yup.
UCI: And how has the vaccination situation been like at your facility?
Caller: As far as, I mean as far as what?
UCI: As far as like access with you and other individuals that you share the area with.
Caller: Can you say that one more time?
UCI: Like how has your access to the vaccination and like other members of the area where you stay, in your facility?
Caller: No. The vaccine is -is available – you know what I’m saying – for anybody –
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: – anybody who wants to take it. But it’s a large number of guys in here who don’t want to take it, though – you know what I’m saying – for whatever reason. Some guys might refuse to take it for religious reasons.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: You know what I’m saying? Some guys might not want to take it because they don’t trust it. You know what I’m saying? It’s, but it’s a large number of guys who refuse to take it.
You know what I’m saying? And – you know what I’m saying – and that, right there, is affecting the program. You see what I’m saying?
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: But it’s really the officers, though.
UCI: So they’re the ones that are not vaccinated?
Caller: Yeah, yeah. Because it’s like I told you earlier. It’s a lot of officers who refuse to take the vaccine. You know what I’m saying?
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: And, as long – and then, a lot of them are testing positive – you know what I’m saying – like a week later or a couple weeks later. A lot of those officers, they done tested positive. But a lot of these officers really don’t care, though.
A lot of these officers are like Trump supporters and shit like that. So they like, “Fuck the vaccine.” And you know what I’m saying? It’s a lot of those type up here.
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: You know what I mean? So it’s a – so I think the state, I think the state is supposed to mandate, the state is supposed to mandate for all officers to take the vaccine, I think, next month.
And I think a lot of officers in here – that they have said that they not going to take it. You know what I’m saying?
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: So I don’t know how that’s going to go. So I don’t know how that’s going to play out. You know what I’m saying?
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: Yeah. So I don’t know how that’s going to play out right there. Yup. Yeah.
UCI: Well, I’m really sorry to hear about what’s been happening. But thank you so much for sharing. Is there –
Caller: Yup.
UCI: – anything else you would like to share about your experience that you would like people to know?
Caller: No. I mean, basically, everything – everything that I had to talk about in detail –
UCI: Mmhmm.
Caller: I put everything in the letter. I sent a – I sent a letter to – I think it was Kristen or something like that.
UCI: Mmhmm. Yeah. She’s another professor –
Caller: [unintelligible].
UCI: – that started the program.
Caller: Okay. She’s the one that created the whole website.
UCI: Yeah. She – her and a few other professors were the ones who started the project. So we’ll definitely get your letter, then. Mmhmm.
Caller: Okay.
Caller: Now, will I get some type of verification, saying that, you know, that the stuff that she talked about in the letter is going to be put on a website or what?
UCI: If you’d like, I think the website information is on the card. You could probably give it to a family – I’m sorry?
Caller: Oh, okay. Okay. Okay.
UCI: Yeah, yeah. And you can ask like a friend or a family to check the website if you’d like to know. Okay?
Caller: Okay. That’s cool.
UCI: Thank you very much for participating. And please consider telling your friends, you know, if you think they have stories they’d like to share as well. Okay?
Caller: Yup.
UCI: You have a great night. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
