Amid mounting criticism, the Pentagon announced Saturday that plans to provide COVID-19 vaccines to detainees at Guantanamo Bay have been put on hold.
In a post on Twitter on Saturday afternoon, John Kirby, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said, “No Guantanamo detainees have been vaccinated. We’re pausing the plan to move forward, as we review force protection protocols. We remain committed to our obligations to keep our troops safe.”
Earlier this week, The New York Times and other media outlets reported that a prosecutor in the case against five prisoners accused of conspiring in the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks said the Pentagon had decided to offer coronavirus vaccines to detainees.
Medical workers at the U.S. naval base in Cuba began vaccinating the 6,000 residents on Jan. 8, including the 1,500 troops assigned to the detention operation, the Times reported. Lack of vaccinations has been a major obstacle to resuming war crimes hearings at the base’s Camp Justice compound, the newspaper reported.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was among those critical of the apparently recent decision to also vaccinate the detainees at the site.
“President Biden told us he would have a plan to defeat the virus on day 1,” McCarthy tweeted Saturday. “He just never told us that it would be to give the vaccine to terrorists before most Americans.”
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