During the early days of the Covid-19 global pandemic, when the novel virus was wreaking havoc across SA and vaccines were in short supply, there was a big debate about who should get priority access within the general population.

There was consensus that frontline workers such as healthcare workers and employees of grocery stores should be prioritised. When the vaccine became available to the general populace, there was consensus that vulnerable groups such as people with comorbidities and compromised immune systems should be first in line to be vaccinated. This was based on a compassionate and humane understanding that those who were more vulnerable to the disease needed protection. But when the government included prisoners in the category of vulnerable people, compassion diminished...