ST. PAUL — Employees at Minnesota state prisons are required to show proof that they’ve been vaccinated for COVID-19 or submit to weekly testing.

But, only two Minnesota counties, Hennepin and Ramsey, have a similar requirement for their jails. Unlike state prisons, which are operated by the Minnesota Department of Corrections, jails are under the authority of county sheriffs, who set their own policies.

Rebecca Shlafer, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School, is leading a project aimed at increasing coronavirus vaccinations among staff and inmates in prisons and jails.

“It’s like a hodgepodge across all 87 counties, which is wildly problematic,” Shlafer said of vaccination efforts.

Vaccinations are especially concerning in jails, where people come and go more frequently than prisons, Shlafer said.

“It’s not just about folks in the jail that are getting infected,” she said. “Those staff get infected. They go back to community, they go back to their churches, they go back to their kids’ schools. And then we see this spread of infection.”

State health officials said that as of Oct. 22, there have been 1,358 confirmed cases of COVID-19 among people incarcerated or detained in Minnesota jails, and 661 cases among jail staff since the start of the pandemic, Minnesota Public Radio News reported.

Amanda Larson, Sherburne County’s health and human services director, said the reluctance among some staff to get the vaccine reflects attitudes in the wider community.

“I don’t know if it’s specific to our jail population,” she said. “I think it’s the normal Sherburne County, central Minnesota, vaccine hesitancy. People don’t like the government telling them what to do.”