Prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center may be offered the COVID-19 vaccine months before it will be offered to most Americans, according to the Pentagon.
Clayton G. Trivett Jr., a prosecutor who pursued charges against five men accused of plotting the deadly Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, wrote to defense lawyers on Thursday that “an official in the Pentagon has just signed a memo approving the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine to the detainee population in Guantánamo,” according to the New York Times. It’s unclear if the prisoners, including accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would consent to getting the vaccination.
Medical workers at the high-security prison complex first began receiving vaccines on Jan. 8, but former President Donald Trump declined to address the subject of detainees being inoculated.
The Defense Department confirmed the authorization to begin vaccinating detainees in an email to the Washington Examiner.
“We comply with applicable U.S. law and policies for medical care of detainees which will continue to be guided by the same medical professional judgements and standards as those applied to the U.S. Armed Forces stationed at Guantanamo,” a Defense Department spokesperson said. “The Department of Defense authorized U.S. Southern Command and Joint Task Force-Guantanamo Bay to offer and administer vaccines to detainees and prisoners under their care. COVID-19 vaccinations will be offered to all detainees and prisoners. It will be administered on a voluntary basis and in accordance with the Department’s priority distribution plan.”
Most people in the United States comparatively will have to wait months before they can receive the vaccine, according to Andy Slavitt, the White House senior adviser for COVID response.
“Right now, I want to level with the public that we’re facing two constraining factors. The first is getting supply quickly enough, and the second is getting the ability to administer the vaccines quickly once they’re produced and sent out to the sites,” he said on Wednesday, adding, “We are taking action to increase supply and increase capacity but, even so, it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one.”
“It is inexcusable and un-American that President Biden is choosing to prioritize convicted terrorists in Gitmo over vulnerable American seniors or veterans,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York, told the New York Post.
Still, there has been a concerted push among some Democratic lawmakers to vaccinate the incarcerated. Rep. Ayanna Pressley called for vaccinating prisoners last month.
“I’m going to continue to fight for our most vulnerable communities who have been disproportionately impacted by the virus, for our healthcare workers, for our essential workers, for incarcerated men and women to be prioritized in the distribution of the vaccine,” she said during remarks on CNN.
Some states have heard Pressley’s plea, with North Carolina administering Moderna vaccines starting on Jan. 20.
“Prisons were not made with social distancing in mind at the time when they were constructed, so we’re dealing with a very difficult situation,” North Carolina Commissioner of Prisons Todd Ishee said in justifying the decision. “It is challenging our staff. It’s challenging our offender population.”
