In under-vaccinated Bosnia, inmate population stands out

By SABINA NIKSIC
Associated Press

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnia’s rate of vaccination against the coronavirus is one of the lowest in Europe, but one population in the Balkan country has bucked the national trend: its prison inmates. Authorities say that over 80% of the 2,000 men and women serving sentences in Bosnia’s 13 prisons have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. That compares to slightly over 27% for the nation as a whole. At the country’s largest penal institution, the maximum-security prison in the city of Zenica, over 90% of the prison’s 600 inmates and over 60% of the staff have received two shots after an initial drive to encourage vaccine uptake. The warden says vaccines are voluntary.