The prisoners held by the United States government at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been cleared by the Pentagon to receive COVID-19 vaccines as early as next week if they so choose, placing alleged terrorists well ahead of the vast majority of Americans in line for inoculation.
What are the details?
The New York Times reported Friday that “a prosecutor in the case against five prisoners accused of conspiring in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001” wrote to defense attorneys 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 Guantanamo.”
The prosecutor, Clayton Trivett, Jr., also noted that the detainees could receive their first dose of the inoculation “on a voluntary basis” as early as Monday.
The Times reported that residents of the U.S. Naval base began receiving the shots on Jan. 8, “but the Trump administration had declined to say whether prisoners would be vaccinated.”
Now, under the Biden administration, the Pentagon has given the all-clear for vaccinating accused terrorists such as purported 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (pictured above) protection against COVID-19 as the majority of the American public—including its vulnerable elderly population—has been told to wait for months.
A spokesman for the Department of Defense confirmed the news to the New York Post, telling the outlet that coronavirus vaccines will be “offered to all detainees and prisoners.”
The outlet noted:
Forty detainees remain at the United States military prison in Cuba, including the man accused of plotting the worst attack on US soil, which claimed 2,977 innocent lives on Sept. 11, 2001, and has since been linked to thousands of other deaths.
The Daily Mail reported that the Gitmo prioritization is occurring as the U.S. is experiencing shortages of the vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna, noting that only 26 million Americans have received a coronavirus shot.
The outlet also pointed to several social media users expressing disgust at the Biden administration’s decision, including one person who wrote, “Here is a trivia question. Who gets the vaccine first a 74 year old diabetic living in NE Philly or the guy who planned the 911 attacks sitting in jail in Guantanamo bay?”
While some people have expressed hesitation at getting the vaccines, others are scrambling to jump ahead of the line for the jab. A Mexican television host flew to Florida and was somehow able to obtain the shot ahead of the elderly Floridians who had stood in long lines, and Hollywood elites are reportedly doing all they can to skip the line themselves.
However, accused American murderers have apparently been given priority over accused Gitmo murderers: O.J. Simpson was able to get his shot on Friday.