Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Wednesday that he plans to cut a wealth of U.S. funding to Gavi, an international vaccine alliance that seeks to immunize the world’s poorest communities.
During a video message at the Gavi fundraising event in Brussels, Kennedy announced plans to cut financial ties to the organization until it had “re-earned the public trust,” according to Politico. The U.S. will continue a few key grant programs for medications to treat HIV and tuberculosis, and deliver food aid to countries in turmoil.
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“When the science was inconvenient, Gavi ignored the science,” he said. “I call on Gavi today to re-earn the public trust and to justify the $8 billion that America has provided in funding since 2001. And I’ll tell you how to start taking vaccine safety seriously: Consider the best science available, even when the science contradicts established paradigms. Until that happens, the United States won’t contribute more to Gavi.”
While the U.S. has been the second-leading government donor to Gavi behind the United Kingdom, providing it with up to $300 million annually in the past, Kennedy expressed concern that the organization had made questionable recommendations about COVID-19 vaccines and neglected vaccine safety. He raised particular concerns about the diphtheria-tetanus-whole cell pertussis vaccine, which was approved without undergoing a placebo-controlled trial, a clinical study viewed as the most scientifically rigorous way to determine whether a vaccine is both safe and effective.
Kennedy announced in April that under his tenure, all new vaccines would undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials before licensure, “a radical departure from past practices.”
The Trump administration first made moves to disassociate itself from Gavi earlier this year, when the White House announced plans to overhaul the U.S. Agency for International Development due to accusations of systemic fraud and corruption. Gavi was one of the biggest recipients of USAID funds.
Kennedy has scrutinized Gavi over its ties to groups such as the World Health Organization. After conducting a two-year investigation on the panemic, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released a 520-page report last December that accused the WHO of downplaying credible evidence COVID-19 leaked from a Chinese research lab in Wuhan “because it caved to pressure from the Chinese Communist Party and placed China’s political interests ahead of its international duties.”
Gavi also holds close ties to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has additionally been scrutinized for its ties to China amid the pandemic, including sending over $20 million to the country in 2023, and steering millions toward the country’s National Health Commission, which crafts Beijing’s health-related policies. The Gates Foundation is the largest private donor to Gavi, contributing $7.7 billion to the group over the last 25 years, and announced Tuesday that it will commit $1.6 billion over the next five years to support the vaccine group.
One of Kennedy’s primary grievances about Gavi lies in the instrumental role it played in spurring mass distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines, including the Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines, which the HHS secretary has criticized due partly to concerns they placed recipients at a higher risk of myocarditis.
The Children’s Health Defense Group, an organization Kennedy led for over a decade before stepping aside in 2023, has accused Gavi of being “one of the most prolific purveyors of pro-vaccine propaganda in the world.”
Gavi and other Big Pharma-backed organizations are “grappling with the fact that parents around the globe are waking up to the serious risks posed by vaccines, including autism, and that increasing numbers of people aren’t buying what they’re selling,” CHD Vice President Laura Bono said last year.
Kennedy’s move to cut ties with Gavi until he says it “re-earns” public trust comes as confidence in health institutions and vaccines has fallen to record lows, particularly since the pandemic.
While a clear majority of people still believe it is important for children to be vaccinated, the number has fallen by 25% since 2001.
Kennedy has said he will address the issue by implementing “radical transparency” at HHS.
“The reason people don’t trust the public health agencies is because they haven’t been trustworthy,” Kennedy said.