This story was told by a person incarcerated at Fresno County Jail.
Caller: There’s not. They give us masks for when we go for our visitations or when we exit the pod to go to what they call Bible studies. But in the pod, mainly nobody really wears their masks until we have a reason to go outside of the door.
But they really. Like I said, they said they were providing new masks every two weeks and a bar of soap, but that was just a big lie right there. You know, we pointed that out as the inmates. I wasn’t here at that time, but I assume it’s true.
What do these inmates have to lie about, you know? I don’t see why they would have to lie. They’re not a big fan of the COs; they’re going to lie to the news and say they’re providing these things when they’re not. That’s just not right, but there’s not much as an inmate that we can do about that, you know.
UCI: Yeah, I’m with you on that one. I agree. What about, have you been vaccinated?
Caller: Me personally? No, I don’t believe in the vaccination myself. That’s just a personal choice. It was kind of interesting. Every month or two, they offer us the vaccine if we want it. And that’s fair. You know, that’s a good thing. Most people deny it; some people get it.
But this last time around, they basically bribed us. They put a message on the TV, and they said that if you get the vaccine, you get $30 in the free commissary, you get a bag of coffee and all this. They’re making it, you know, they’re making it, they’re just basically bribing. They’re making it sound like a great deal, you know?
At the end of the day, a person like me, I see it as, wow you know, a lot of people just sold themselves for $30. Everybody was excited and happy, “Oh yeah, we get free food!” and what not. But at the same time, I feel like nobody’s really concerned about the side effects and aftermath of getting the shot, and whatever that may be.
When I came here, I never got the vaccine throughout the entire year when the pandemic started. I was never sick. As soon as I got here, four months in, I got COVID. I couldn’t taste. I couldn’t smell. It was hard to breathe.
I just laid in my bed for two weeks. I asked them if there was something that they could do about that. Their only solution was to put us in what we call “The hole.” You know, to me, that would be more of a punishment than anything.
It’s understandable that they would separate us from other people and not want to risk other people getting sick, but at the same time, it’s just why would you put somebody in that small area like that just because they’re sick? They need some help. They need some medicine. Shit, take me to the hospital if you can. I don’t feel well.
I asked the COs myself, you know, the correctional officers, and they basically said, “Yeah man, If you want to go somewhere, all we can do is put you in the hole and separate you from everybody else.” So, I just kind of toughed it out. We were on quarantine at that time anyway, so there was no point.
But during the quarantine usually lasts two weeks, but it would be 23 days, it’ll be 24 days.