The entrance to Camp 1 in Guantanamo Bay’s Camp Delta. (Wikipedia Kathleen T. Rhem)

By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

WASHINGTON  –  PENTAGON  –   Of the 40 detainees incarcerated inside the Guantánamo Bay detention center, 32 have accepted the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Pentagon said.  Dr. Terry Adirim, acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, confirmed that all but 8 detainees have had first shots. “They were offered the vaccine this week and I think 32 out of the 40 accepted vaccination,”  Adirim said during a COVID-19 vaccination update with reporters at the Pentagon Wednesday. 

(Credit:  Gary Raynaldo /  ©Diplomatic Times )   Dr. Terry Adirim Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs provide a COVID-19 update to the media at the Pentagon in Washington DC  April 21,  2021.

The vaccine utilized at the  detention center in Cuba is Moderna, just like it is for all  OCONUS locations.  The vaccines are not mandatory for the  military or civilian Department Defense employees and were offered to the detainees on a voluntary basis.  The Biden administration halted initial plans to offer detainees the  vaccine on February 1 amid an outcry from elected officials and families of the victims of the September 11 attacks accused the DOD of putting terrorism suspects ahead of the American people, who, at the  time, were just starting to get access to the vaccines in large numbers.  However, vaccination have now surged in the U.S. and is nearing President Biden’s goal of administering 200 million doses by his 100th day in office.   Meanwhile, there has been a significant rate of refusal to take the vaccines by adults at the  Guantánamo Bay base of about 5,500 residents, including at the detention center, which has a staff of 1,500 guards and civilians, the NY Times reported.  About 47 percent of those eligible had not yet taken a single does as of April 1, the NY Times reported.