CNN had previously reported that the U.S. Armed Forces and current US detainees held in Guantanamo Bay received authorization to receive the Covid-19 vaccine on January 27 in a memo from the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense for Health Affairs, Terry Adirim.
The Defense Department will “offer and administer vaccines to detainees and prisoners in its care,” a Defense spokesman said in a statement earlier this week.
The vaccine will be offered to all detainees and prisoners and will be administered “on a voluntary basis and in accordance with the Department’s priority distribution policy,” said the spokesman.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, known as one of the main architects of the 9/11 attacks, is currently being held in Guantánamo, along with Moath Hamza Ahmed al Alawi, who is believed to be one of Osama bin Laden’s bodyguards.
There are approximately 40 prisoners remaining in Guantánamo Bay, so it would be just a small volume of vaccine destined for the detention center.
Emily Horne, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told CNN on Saturday that the White House had no additional comments and pointed to Kirby’s tweet.