The U.S. Department of Defense has paused its plan offering vaccinations to Guant\u00e1namo Bay detainees, an official said Saturday.
\n\u201cNo Guantanamo detainees \u2026<\/b>
\nThe U.S. Department of Defense has paused its plan offering vaccinations to Guant\u00e1namo Bay detainees, an official said Saturday. \u201cNo Guantanamo detainees have been vaccinated,\u201d John Kirby, assistant secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, announced Saturday. \u201cWe\u2019re pausing the plan to move forward, as we review force protection protocols. We remain committed to our obligations to keep our troops safe.\u201d Terry Adirim, the principal deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, a Joe Biden appointee sworn in on Inauguration Day, signed an order Wednesday, Jan.27, ensuring that COVID-19 vaccinations would be provided to all Guant\u00e1namo inmates. According to the order, the first dose of the vaccine was supposed to be offered to the 40 detainees on a voluntary basis as early as Monday. However, the Pentagon has paused this plan. Public health experts and criminal justice advocates had argued that incarcerated people ought to be high on the vaccine priority list since many are detained in tight quarters, conditions that are ripe for a broad COVID-19 breakout, NBC News reported. The 6,000 residents and 1,500 troops assigned to detention operations started receiving vaccinations on Jan.8, with two positive cases of COVID-19 reported from the base. The Pentagon in March 2020 had forbidden commanders from reporting additional coronavirus cases among their personnel, according to NBC News. The move to vaccinate the inmates drew condemnation from 9\/11 survivors and Republicans, Fox News reported. \u201cIt is inexcusable and un-American that President Biden is choosing to prioritize vaccinations for convicted terrorists in Gitmo over vulnerable American seniors or veterans,\u201d Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik said Saturday, according to Fox News. \u201cPresident Biden told us he would have a plan to defeat the virus on day 1,\u201d House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted. \u201cHe just never told us that it would be to give the vaccine to terrorists before most Americans.\u201d The United States opened the Guant\u00e1namo detention center in Jan.2002 to detain individuals connected to al-Qaida and the Taliban. Five men facing a trial by military commission for allegedly planning and helping with the Sept.11,2001, attacks, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind, are among the 40 inmates held within Gitmo\u2019s walls, according to the Associated Press. Amnesty International has criticized the Guant\u00e1namo Bay detention center as \u201ca symbol of torture, rendition and indefinite detention without charge or trial,\u201d alleging that the prison\u2019s inmates face trial by \u2018military commission\u2019 with proceedings that fail to meet \u201cfair trial standards.\u201d<\/p>\n