U.S. pulls support from global vaccines group. What to know
Global News
Gavi has paid for more than one billion children to be vaccinated through routine immunization programs, saving an estimated 18 million lives.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the country is pulling its support from the vaccines alliance Gavi, saying the organization has “ignored the science” and “lost the public trust.”
A video of Kennedy’s speech was shown to participants at a Gavi meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, where the vaccines group was hoping to raise at least $9 billion for the next five years.
Gavi is a public-private partnership including WHO, UNICEF, the Gates Foundation and the World Bank. It has paid for more than one billion children to be vaccinated through routine immunization programs, saving an estimated 18 million lives. The U.S. has long been one of its biggest supporters; before Trump’s re-election, the country had pledged US$1 billion through 2030.
Kennedy called on Gavi “to re-earn the public trust and to justify the US$8 billion America has provided in funding since 2001,” saying officials must “consider the best science available, even when that science contradicts established paradigms.” Kennedy said until that happens, the U.S. won’t contribute further to Gavi.
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, said he and President Trump were concerned about how Gavi and the World Health Organization partnered together during the COVID-19 pandemic to work with social media companies “to silence dissenting views, to stifle free speech and legitimate questions” during a time when many people had questions about vaccine safety.
Kennedy said Gavi continues to make “questionable recommendations,” like advising pregnant women to get immunized against COVID-19 and funding the roll-out of a vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis in poorer countries.
WHO and other health authorities have recommended pregnant women get vaccinated against COVID-19, saying they are at higher risk of severe disease.
Kennedy said he has seen research that concluded that young girls vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis were more likely to die from all other causes than children who weren’t immunized.
The milestone deal with Ottawa signed earlier this week clears regulatory hurdles for a potential pipeline from Alberta to the West Coast.
Canadian veterinarians are sounding the alarm about their loss of access to about 40 per cent of medications they once were able to use and they are blaming Health Canada.