This story was told by a person incarcerated at Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail.
Caller: “Can I have another test while I’m in quarantine to make sure that it’s not a false positive? Because the tests are sometimes false positive.” “Oh, no, no, we’re – it doesn’t matter about that. You’re in quarantine, so having another test doesn’t matter.”
“Well, can I just get it for my personal self? And if it is positive, I stay back here the – the 14 days instead of 10 days?” “No, no, we’re not going to give it to you.” Then it’s, like, huh? Like, why are you all acting like it’s always a problem?
It’s a combative – it’s a combativeness with them, and it – it shouldn’t be that way when it comes to health. Look how many people it’s infected. I just hear on the news they just said 47 million people has – they got 47 million cases in the United States. Out of 47 million cases, why y’all not being more open and transparent communication and open dialogue and being able to answer the questions. If we have questions, why not take time and just answer the little questions we have?
Because it’s not nothing like I’m asking you something personal. It’s just I want to know about this vaccine, and I want to know if it has any long-term effects. I want to know will I still be able to reproduce. I got all kind of questions to ask.
But talking to them, it’s, like, you can’t do that, and it – it’s kind of – I feel like that’s – that’s the part, the biggest thing that I would like people to know that – that part is wrong. That needs to be addressed. And because we’re inmates, we don’t have no voice, and we don’t have nobody to speak for us. The public don’t know what these people do when it – when these doors are – behind these walls.
They don’t know. And then when they do talk to the – the news media and different places, organizations, they, you know, they sugarcoat it and act like they just doing everything the correct way. But it doesn’t work like that.
In all actuality, they’re not doing it. Like, the nurse is at the door right now, and I could ask them, “Did I fill this form out right?” And they’ll just say, okay. They’ll just say, “Oh, no, we’re – I don’t know, I don’t know. You got to give it to the morning person.” And they switch it off to the next shift.
And it’s, like, hold on. Aren’t you an LVN, aren’t you a RN? Patient care, right? That’s what you’re supposed to have a job for, so if we have a question, a medical question no matter how – what you consider dumb it – it shouldn’t be dumb. No medical question should be a dumb question.
You in a facility where people have – stuff happens, and [unintelligible], but – but it just be a whole lot, then that’s where that’s kind of – I be thinking, like, you know, and it’s wrong. Like, the nurses right now, I didn’t even bother them two because I already talked to them two, and I know what they’re going to say. “Hey, well, talk to the people in the morning because we – we can’t handle it tonight because the people – our supervisor is not there.”
But the people in the morning time, “Oh, I forgot to turn it in. I’ll make sure I put a note in there for my supervisor when I go downstairs.” Like, huh? It’s just – now that part, it – it’s kind of, like, haywire. You don’t get no – no – no satisfaction.
