This story was told by a person incarcerated at Merced County Jail.
Caller: Okay. So, well, I did – when I did two years – I did two years. Then, I got out for 40 days. Then, I came back.
And I’ve been here for the last six months. Here, in the beginning of the pandemic and now. And so, when they quarantine you – and then, they gave me the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. But the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was a vaccine that was on recall.
So, when they gave it to you – and then, if you had symptoms, they just – they just shine you on, like, “Well, them is normal symptoms.” No – they told you that you could have nerve damage. But they don’t never want to examine your nerves here, on the medical tier.
But they try to still pass out this Johnson & Johnson vaccine and no other vaccine that’s available. And they also don’t let people come in to see you at court. But, when they did open it up, they allowed certain people.
But, then, they closed it back down. And they always blame it on the medical. You know? It would help – well, not understanding COVID – but, in Merced County, they do their own bylaws.
So, if the whole state was opened back up, Merced County still was closed down, even though the numbers was down. So, you know? And – but the officers – the officers don’t have to be vaccinated. And they don’t have to take a COVID test.
UCI: Okay.
Caller: And they don’t have programs here, as in GED or they don’t have a chaplain. And they don’t, you know, they don’t have no movement. We’re – we’re locked down 24 hours a day.
We go out to yard once a week. And that’s approximately for one hour. You’re supposed to get three hours. But we’ll be out there for about one hour.
And then, we’re back in our cell, locked down again. And they feed us the food on an open plastic tray that’s open. But, if it was a COVID pandemic, then, it should be a closed feeding, so we wouldn’t contract the virus that way.
UCI: Yeah, definitely.
