(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)
I reported on the Biden administration’s plan to give Guantanamo Bay detainees, including those allegedly behind 9/11 and the reported “mastermind” Khalid Sheikh Muhammed, the Wuhan coronavirus vaccine before most Americans, starting as early as this week. Most Americans are not expected to get it until later in the spring or even the beginning of summer.
The order authorizing this was signed by Biden political appointee Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Terry Adirim.
Americans, particularly first responders and those who came to Ground Zero to help out after the attacks, were infuriated that Gitmo detainees were slated higher on the list.
Plan to vaccinate Guantanamo Bay detainees against Covid-19 has been paused
January 30, 2021 3:38 PM CNN
John Moore/Getty Images South America/Getty Images
(CNN) An earlier plan to give Guantanamo Bay detainees the Covid-19 vaccine has been paused as of Saturday, according to a US Pentagon official.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a Saturday afternoon tweet that no Guantanamo Bay detainees have been given a Covid-19 vaccine and announced that the Department of Defense is “pausing the plan to move forward, as we review force protection protocols.”
CNN had previously reported that US Armed Forces and current US-held detainees at Guantanamo Bay were granted authorization to receive the Covid-19 vaccine on January 27 in a memo from Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Terry Adirim.