Senior administration officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing deliberations on the evacuation process. The CDC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Pentagon made no comment. The National Security Council referred POLITICO to the comments of White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
Jean-Pierre told reporters Monday that the administration will pause flights for “at least an additional seven days.” But senior administration officials who spoke to POLITICO said they are preparing to stop flights for longer, noting the time it would take to vaccinate thousands of individuals and that immunity would be developed.
“Currently, all Afghans who arrive are required to be vaccinated against measles as a condition of their humanitarian parole and their critical vaccines,” Jean-Pierre said on Monday.
According to CDC data, measles is extremely contagious. About 90 percent of people who are not vaccinated get the virus. Vaccination rates in Afghanistan are notoriously low.
While senior health officials are concerned about the potential for more people to test positive, there are currently no reported cases at the Ramstein base, said a senior administration official with direct knowledge of the issue. It is unclear if there are any additional cases in Qatar, that person said.
According to the World Health Organization, a measles outbreak is defined as two or more laboratory-confirmed cases that are “temporarily related” or with eruption dates that begin between seven and 23 days. An outbreak is considered terminated when there are no related cases for 46 days from the start of the last case.
The delay would extend the amount of time evacuees would need to stay at U.S. military bases, where people’s conditions increase each week, according to two other individuals helping with the U.S. evacuation response abroad.
The United States is also examining Afghan refugees for Covid-19 both nationally and internationally. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has also set up a mass vaccination site for refugees at Dulles Airport on the outskirts of Washington, DC