Guantanamo prison, April 17, 2019. -
Alex Brandon / AP / SIPA
The outcry over the lack of vaccines for medical staff and elderly and vulnerable Americans has forced US officials to reconsider their plan.
The Pentagon said on Saturday that it had suspended its plan to vaccinate Guantanamo detainees against Covid-19.
"No Guantanamo detainee has been vaccinated," tweeted Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
“We are taking a break from developing the plan, to reassess the protocols.
We remain committed to our obligations to keep our troops safe, ”he added.
Earlier in the week, the Defense Department told the US press that vaccines against the coronavirus would be offered to detainees and prisoners at Guantanamo who volunteered.
American elected officials immediately declared themselves scandalized, including the Republican, Kevin McCarthy.
“President Biden told us he had a plan to beat the virus (…).
He did not tell us that he intended to give the vaccine to terrorists before most Americans, ”he said on Twitter.
Biden's commitments
President Joe Biden has pledged to reach 100 million Americans in the first 100 days after taking office, but the process is faltering due to various technical difficulties as well as a lack of vaccines.
According to US health officials, of the 50 million doses already distributed in the country, less than 30 million have been administered.
The American prison of Guantanamo, in Cuba, accommodates detainees linked to the "war on terrorism" including the Pakistani Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the attacks of September 11, 2001. It still houses some forty detainees, of whom 26 are considered as too dangerous to be released, but legal proceedings drag on due to the complexity of their cases.
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