Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. announced the U.S. would not deliver on a $1.2 billion pledge made by the Biden administration to Gavi, the leading international vaccine organization that serves millions of lives, notes The New York Times:
In confrontational remarks sent by video to global leaders who had gathered to support the organization, Gavi, Mr. Kennedy said the United States would withdraw its financial support for the group’s work purchasing vaccines for children in poor countries.
“When vaccine safety issues have come before Gavi, Gavi has treated them not as a patient health problem, but as a public relations problem,” Mr. Kennedy said in the address. He offered no evidence for the allegation…
In a statement, Gavi’s leaders rejected the suggestion that its vaccine purchases were driven by anything other than the best available evidence.
“Any decision made by Gavi with regards to its vaccine portfolio is made in alignment with recommendations by the World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), a group of independent experts that reviews all available data through a rigorous, transparent and independent process,” Gavi’s statement said. “This ensures Gavi investments are grounded in the best available science and public health priorities.”
Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon who led global health work in the Biden administration, called Mr. Kennedy’s remarks “stunning and calamitous.”
(Sources: The New York Times,