White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Friday that evacuation flights of Afghan refugees were temporarily halted after four diagnosed cases of measles were discovered among Afghans who recently arrived in the United States.
A transcript is as follows:
REPORTER: I was hoping you can comment on reporting from my colleague that health concerns have halted U.S.-bound flights of Afghan evacuees from two countries. What is the concern about? Is it COVID-related? Do you know how many Afghan refugees are affected?
JEN PSAKI: Operation Allies welcome flights into the United States have been temporarily paused at the request of the CDC and out of an abundance of caution because of four diagnosed cases of measles among Afghans who recently arrived in the United States. These individuals are being quarantined in accordance with public health guidelines and the CDC has begun full contact tracing. All arriving Afghans are currently required to be vaccinated for measles as a condition of entry into the United States, and critical immunizations, including MMR, are being administered to Afghans at military bases in the United States. We are also exploring measures to vaccinate people while they are still overseas. That’s something we’re looking into.
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