Their cruelty and malice is unspeakable, though evidently acceptable to some 70 million Americans.
https://www.wired.com/story/why-denying-migrants-flu-shots-is-a-dangerous-foolish-move/amp
..."Yet perhaps because only a small percentage of cases ends catastrophically—or conversely, because many of us have experienced recovering from flu—we chronically underestimate the toll taken by the virus. Which might be the kindest explanation for the decision by US Customs and Border Protection, uncovered last week by CNBC, not to give the flu shot to any of the adults or children the agency is holding in crammed border camps.
Equally likely explanations: racism, prejudice, and outrageous disregard, along with a misguided belief that withholding health care—like the already-documented denials of showers, blankets, hot food, and enough room to lie down—will deter more migrants from coming.
Whatever the reason, the decision to withhold flu shots denies human rights, defies international treaties and legal conventions, and is epidemiologically dangerous and dumb.
Not to mention very badly timed. One day after the border agency’s ruling became public, the US recorded the first death of the 2019-20 flu season, a 74-year-old man living near San Diego. That means the flu season is getting an unusually early and deadly start. The agency told CNBC, and later other news outlets, that it was making the flu shot decision because of “the short-term nature” of its camps, which operate under a 1997 agreement limiting child detentions to 20 days. But the administration simultaneously announced it intends to abandon that agreement and plans to detain families with children indefinitely—which would leave many more people vulnerable to the flu."...(more)
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