SPOKANE -- Even as local officials have canceled upcoming flu clinics the Washington State Department of Corrections has confirmed that doses of the Swine Flu vaccine have been sent to the Washington State Penitentiary and the McNeil Island Prison where high risk prisoners are being vaccinated.

The DOC confirmed Thursday that vaccinations were underway at the two facilities. It should be clarified that prisoners at McNeil Island will get the vaccine while high-risk sex offenders staying at the Special Commitment Center also on McNeil Island will not get the vaccine.

MORE INFO Story: Sound Off Thursday: Some Washington prison inmates getting Swine Flu vaccine while public waits

All across the country there are similar reports of prisoners receiving swine flu vaccinations, raising alarm among the general population not currently incarcerated, especially as health districts across the country are reporting widespread shortages of the vaccine. This is true even here in Spokane, where the Spokane Regional Health District in fact has canceled all five of its upcoming vaccination clinics next week because of a vaccine shortage.

The DOC wants to get inmates and prison workers inoculated against the swine flu in order to prevent it from spreading among the prison population.