Nov 4, 2009, 19:32 GMT
Washington - Guantanamo Bay detainees could receive swine flu vaccines but are low on the priority list, well behind soldiers deployed overseas and civilian personnel, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
The possibility that detainees, including the alleged plotters of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, could receive the immunizations has fueled controversy in the United States at a time when stockpiles of the vaccine are well short of the public's demand for innoculations.
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said it could become necessary to vaccinate some or all of the 215 detainees to ensure US military personnel inside the confined detention centre are not at risk of contracting the disease.
No vaccines have been shipped to Guantanamo and there are no plans for the moment to do so, Morrell said. He added the military remains short of meeting its top priority - immunizing US soldiers on the front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq and health care personnel.
'We are still a long way from making sure that happens,' Morrell said. 'And not until that happens will we even consider taking care of those beneath them on the prioritization list.'
The top Republican in the House of Representatives, criticized the decision on CNN over the weekend, saying there remain too many vulnerable groups in the United States who should be in line ahead of prisoners.
'I just think that's wrong,' Representative John Boehner said.
Morrell pointed out that the Pentagon does not make decision regarding the health care of the US general population, but is responsible for Defence Department employees.
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