A bipartisan group of senators have called for the Trump administration to release funds for GAVI, a vaccine entity.
The letter, addressed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, says the vaccine group demands answers as to why the State Department “has not used $600 million appropriated in fiscal years 2025 and 2026 ($300 million each fiscal year) to replenish the U.S. Government’s pledge to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI).”
The senators, Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Susan Collins (R-ME), Patty Murray (D-WA), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), declared that GAVI “plays a critical role in averting the spread of preventable diseases around the globe and helps protect public health in our country by stopping outbreaks before they reach our borders. Congressional support for GAVI endures because of its proven success as a public-private partnership, immunizing more than 1.1 billion children – and in turn preventing 20.6 million deaths – since its inception in 2000.”
“We urge you to quickly provide the U.S. contribution to GAVI, consistent with Congressional intent, to ensure U.S. leadership continues in global vaccination efforts,” the senators add. “Restoring U.S. contributions to GAVI is a necessary step for the U.S. to regain a seat on the board of GAVI, without which the United States cannot directly shape technical, financial, and scientific decisions that have direct implications for America’s health security.”
GAVI spokesperson Olly Cann said in a statement obtained by The Hill that the entity’s ability to “keep the world safe by maintaining vaccine stockpiles for Ebola, cholera and other deadly diseases is severely impaired.”
“We also have a reduced capacity to fund preventive vaccination campaigns, such as against typhoid, and to maintain the strong progress we have made in recent years helping turn the tide against malaria,” Cann said.
