H1N1 shots to be offered to Guantanamo detainees
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Pentagon will offer the H1N1 vaccination to detainees at the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay, officials there said Friday.
The Pentagon made the decision based on U.S. government assessments that people held in detention facilities are at high risk for the pandemic, said Maj. Diana R. Haynie, a spokeswoman for Joint Task Force Guantanamo Bay, which is in charge of holding the suspected terrorists.
"Detainees at JTF Guantanamo are considered to be at higher risk and therefore they will be offered the H1N1 vaccination," Haynie said.
"JTF Guantanamo conducts safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees. As such, we must provide detainees the medical care necessary to maintain their health," she said.
Base officials had not received the vaccinations and did not know when they were expected to arrive, Haynie said.
Once the vaccinations are received, doses will be administered to active-duty personnel before being offered to detainees and others on the base, Haynie said.
The vaccination is mandatory for all uniformed personnel, she said.
The vaccinations will be voluntary for the detainees, who will be briefed on the virus and the vaccine prior to deciding whether to receive the latter.
Some of the detainees have already voluntarily taken the seasonal flu shot, Haynie said.
Prisoners should be treated. They are not "detainees", they are prisoners, although none have actually been convicted of anything.
Nice we can't get it here, but the criminals get it. Maybe Obama will administer it for them while on Apology Tour 2.
I bet if the good ol Bush administration was still in power they would have offed the vaccine to their dog before they would have ever thought about giving it to a detainee... boy how things have changed!!!
That's right – let the U.S. children die, but protect the detainees!
That's just great!!! When are they going to get around to providing them to doctors in NJ so our children can have access to the shots.
I hope this is a joke. Millions of tax-paying, law-abiding, good americans are having to wait in line for this vaccine but the government is making sure radical, extremist, terrorist murders get it asap? I understand there are medical standards that have to be met in prisions but they better be at the back of the line after all the rest of us get it.
Ok, this the humane thing to do, but doubt those people will take the shot. How about making sure EVERY AMERICAN has acess to receiving the H1N1 shot first....would be nice.
Uh oh
I wonder how long it will take the republicans to claim this all Obamas doing.
How thoughtful. They get the vaccine while our local drive was cancelled because we haven't got our shipment yet.
How about vaccinating our own citizens before we worry about our prisoners of war. This makes President Obama look weak.
And meanwhile the H1N1 shots won't be available in my city for another month! Brilliant! Only in America under Democrat rule.
This is true but already the nut jobs are complaining about citizens not getting the shot. Of course if the detainees get the flu so will our military people watching them.
sounds about right for this administration and its radical followers. "God, I hope the terrorists dont get the swine flu and transmit it to other terrorists."-Unfortunately many followers of the marxist, terrorist loving, anti American fraud in chief believe that statement. But they will be defeated and thrown back in the cesspool they came from soon enough. 2010=Radicals thrown out of Congress
2012(if he even makes it that far)= the end of the marxist and his cronies
CONSERVATIVES CANT STAND TO BE LIED TO WHILE LIBERALS CANT STAND THE TRUTH
Yeah, funny. Especially all the pregnant women and babies that are incarcerated there. By all means, give them all shots and then let them go back to their men.
AFTER all USA citizens NOT being detained as (suspected) terrorists have been vaccinated, THEN provide vaccine for the detainees.
Are the lives of the (suspected) terrorists more important than mine, a "non-suspected" terrorist?
This do-gooder social-activist idea is OTL for "I'm-a-better-than-you-because-I'm-a-right-thinking-activist" social idiocy.
I guess I've seen it all now. You would think that with a country in extreme need for a hard to find vaccination, and a shortage of that hard to find vaccination, that the President or congress would step in and insure that the American Public would get the vaccination before MURDERING TERRORISTS GET IT WHAT KIND OF COUNTRY DO WE LIVE IN HERE? WHY ARE TERRORIST IN CUBA AND CONVICTED FELONS GETTING THE H1N1 VACCINATION BEFORE MY 5 YEAR OLD SON GETS IT? WHY ARE THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS RATIONING THE VACCINATION TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC? THIS MAKEWS ME SICK WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!!!!! IT's ABOUT TIME FOR US TO STAND UP, DO AWAY WITH THIS GOVERNMENT THAT INSISTS ON OPPRESSING US!!!
How much, per shot, will the detainees pay to be vaccinated?
Don't they all have health-care insurance?
If they don't have money, how do they buy their airline tickets?
Is this a joke??? While we are waiting for our shots and putting our lives at risk, the terrorists get shots? common, I voted for Obama, but this is ridiculous!!!