Terrorism suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base will soon get swine flu vaccines, despite complaints that American civilians should have priority, a military spokesman said Sunday.
Army Maj. James Crabtree, a spokesman for the U.S. jail facility in southeast Cuba, said the doses should start arriving this month, with guards and then inmates scheduled for inoculations.
He acknowledged there may be an "emotional response" from critics who argue that terror suspects should not be allocated swine-flu medications while members of the U.S. public are still waiting due to a vaccine shortage.
But he said U.S. military officials are "responsible for the health and care of the detainee population."
Medical personnel at Guantanamo requested the doses, but Crabtree said he did not know how many.
Detainees will be vaccinated "entirely on a voluntary basis," he said. "There is always going to be a segment of the population that is going to refuse," either due to anxiety about a shot or to "distrust of our motivations."
The top House Republican, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, told CNN's "State of the Union" show on Sunday that he does not agree with the H1N1 vaccination plans for detainees at Guantanamo.
"I don't think it's a good idea. The administration probably didn't think it would be very popular either; that's why they announced it on Friday night," Boehner said.
The Miami Herald first reported about the vaccination plans on Wednesday.
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6 comments:
I THOUGHT OBAMA ORDERED GITMO CLOSED
I would expect nothing more out of our county than to take care of the people that try to kill us everyday. My pediatricians office won't have any H1N1 vaccines till the end of November but the terrorists will be ok. Am I getting smarter or is the entire government getting dumber? This kind of dumb S*#T drives me crazy!!
Why is it dumb? They are our prisoners and as such we have to take care of them. What do you think is more expensive, giving them all the shot or having an outbreak of H1N1 at Gitmo. Think about things rationally people.
Let them have it, I'm not going to need mine...they can see if there are any adverse effects.
I hear the vaccine is made from pork.
3:35
It is made from the flesh of aborted babies, combined with a full dose of mercury and then mixed with squalene (adjuvant) to force the immune system into hyper-drive.
One might say the vaccine is a form of "torture".
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