This story was told by a person incarcerated at Vacaville.
UCI: How has the COVID situation been at your facility?
Caller: Well it was pretty hard. I got cancer and then I ended up getting COVID-19.
UCI: Well that’s, I’m so sorry to hear that. Can you into further detail about the situation, like how it’s been handled and all that jazz, you know?
Caller: Like my treatments or what?
UCI: Anything regards to the situation of COVID. You can talk about how it’s spread, how they been handling it.
Caller: How it spread, I don’t know, but I knew I got it, and it was kind of hard to breathe. You know, You know, I thought I was a goner, ’cause I have been going through chemo, and then I got the COVID-19 ’cause my immune system was weak. And when I got the symptoms, I knew something was wrong other than my radiation, and when they test me, I test positive and the court told me three to two weeks. Those three weeks were kind of hard because it was hard to breathe.
UCI: Yeah.
Caller: But the reason I called too is because I got a letter from [redacted],and I don’t want her to think I ignored her ’cause I was sick when I got the letter back in August.
UCI: Yeah, we’re always happy to hear your guys’ COVID-19 stories. So you talked about how you got it. How was – how did they treat you for it? Like did they do anything in particular or did they let you guys struggle?
Caller: They didn’t give us no medication. Nothing like that, we just in your cell, just sit there and recuperate.
UCI: Would they – did they social distance you with your cellmate? Did they leave your cellmate in there? What was the situation regarding that?
Caller: There was two guys in the same cell with COVID-19. One guy had a machine and I thought I should need one too because I couldn’t breathe that good. I got my COVID-19 when they transferred me from one spot to another place and I told the officers, “Look at this, this is quarantine right here for COVID-19, you gone put me in there?” and he goes, “Yeah.” Then two days later I got COVID-19 because they brought me to the infirmary. They quarantined me for three weeks.
UCI: So they quarantined you for three weeks. Did they quarantine you and your cellmate or just yourself?
Caller: Oh, just myself. My cellmate didn’t get it, they tested my cellie and he didn’t have none.
