A Washington jail has a new incentive for COVID vaccines. Inmates are eating it up

Benton County jail staff have come up with an inexpensive, but effective, way to encourage inmates to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

Since the first of the month the jail has been giving away one of its most popular commissary items to inmates who sign up for their first COVID shot — ramen noodles.

By Monday, the jail will have given out 900 packets of noodle soup to 90 inmates, said Scott Souza, chief of corrections for the Benton County Corrections Department.

The jail currently houses about 360 inmates.

Corrections employees who came up with the program call it “Soups for Shots.”

It’s advertised to inmates around the jail with fliers featuring a larger-than-life photo of the seasoned, wavy noodles.

“To encourage and support COVID vaccination efforts, the Benton County Department of Corrections will be providing each inmate that starts their vaccination series with 10 FREE RAMEN NOODLE SOUPS!!!” say posters around the jail in Kennewick, Wash.

The jail has been offering COVID-19 vaccinations to inmates for some time, with the noodle incentive offered now for about three weeks.

“We’re doing everything we can do to incentivize vaccination and we are getting outstanding response,” Souza said.

Any inmate, no matter how long their stay, is eligible for the program if they have not been immunized yet.

The Benton County jail has shared information about the new program with other jails in the state, Souza said.

This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 5:17 PM with the headline "A Washington jail has a new incentive for COVID vaccines. Inmates are eating it up."