Some local inmates are receiving the COVID-19 vaccine as the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) works to contain the virus, county attorney Kayla Watson said Jan. 25. Watson made the comments during an Orange County court hearing, as legal proceedings continued into whether half the region’s prison population should be released during the ongoing pandemic. Watson told Superior Court Judge Peter. J Wilson that the OCSD was doing everything it could to keep inmates safe. “Everyone 65 and older has been offered the vaccine and given the first dose of the vaccine, but for 11 inmates who declined the vaccination,” Watson told the court. “Those 11 spots that didn’t accept the vaccination were given to inmates next in line that were under 65 and medically vulnerable.” The battle over the prisoners’ freedom began late last year when an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit claimed many of the inmates were vulnerable to COVID-19 due to underlying health conditions. Wilson …