The American flag flies over Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. (U.S. Navy Photo) WASHINGTON (AP) - Prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center can begin getting the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as Monday, a senior defense official told The Associated Press, months after a plan to inoculate them was scuttled over outrage that many Americans weren't eligible to receive the shots.The new timing coincides with President Joe Biden's deadline for states to make the vaccines more widely available across the U.S.
Beginning Monday, anyone 16 and older qualifies to sign up and get in a virtual line to be vaccinated. The defense official said all 40 men held at the Navy base in Cuba will be offered the vaccination to comply with legal requirements.