U.S. Withholds Funds from Global Vaccine Group Gavi

The State Department has not disbursed the money that Congress approved for the organization.

U.S. played a major role in founding Gavi and was one of its largest donors. 6 billion to be paid over five years, an amount that would have covered about 13 percent of Gavi’s funding through 2030. The Trump administration has linked continued support to changes in Gavi’s vaccine choices.

Officials asked Gavi to stop using vaccines that contain the preservative thimerosal and to reconsider its use of the combination diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine known as DTwP.

The White House asked Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reduce public criticism of vaccines ahead of the midterm elections. Kennedy has accused Gavi of ignoring science on vaccine safety and of relying on DTwP despite data showing it does not cause brain damage.

The CDC’s national childhood immunization schedule has been pared back, and the agency’s top vaccine advisory panel was placed on hiatus after Kennedy reconstituted it.

Gavi has begun shifting some programs to thimerosal-free vaccines, but the transition carries added costs. The organization faces a nearly 30 percent budget deficit in its malaria vaccine program. Experts note that lower-income countries rely on older, lower-cost vaccines that remain effective in settings with limited refrigeration and health-care access.

DTwP is estimated to have saved about 40 million lives over the past 50 years. Routine vaccination rates in many countries have not returned to pre-COVID levels. Funding shortfalls could widen gaps in hard-to-reach communities and slow new vaccine introductions planned through 2030.