Eleven prison workers in the Kurnool district and nine in the Anantapur district tested positive for COVID-19 about three weeks after taking the second dose of the vaccine, officials said.
All suffered only mild symptoms and resumed their duties after completing their mandatory domestic isolation period of two weeks, it is said.
Anantapur District Prison superintendent Narasimha Reddy said The Hindu that none of their employees were affected by the pandemic during the first wave, but 10 of their 50 employees became infected with the virus during the second wave. Fortunately, no one has had major health complications, he said.
Four inmates at the COVID-labeled prison in Gooty tested positive and were transferred to hospital. They were only sent to the affected sub-prison after a negative test, said Manohar Reddy, the responsible sub-prison of Anantapur.
Three prison workers at Penukonda Sub-Prison tested positive during the second wave after taking both doses of the vaccine. A total of 30 of the 62 employees in the seven sub-prisons tested positive in both waves.
Kurnool District Prison Superintendent Pocha Varunareddy said seven of the 30 staff members tested positive for COVID-19 in the second wave after taking both doses of the vaccine, but all had mild symptoms. Dhone has been designated as a COVID-19 prison for testing and those who tested positive were sent to hospitals, said the responsible sub-prison, Md. Shafiur Rehman.
All prisons in both districts planned another vaccination campaign last week to allow all new inmates who need the first dose of the vaccine, as well as the few staff and inmates who need the second dose, to meet their schedule.