Kennedy says US is pulling funding from global vaccine group Gavi

LONDON AP U S Medical Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr says the country is pulling its assistance from the vaccines alliance Gavi saying the organization has ignored the science and lost the populace trust A video of Kennedy s short speech was shown to a Gavi meeting in Brussels on Wednesday where the organization that has paid for more than billion children to be vaccinated through routine immunization programs was hoping to raise at least billion for the next five years Kennedy a longtime vaccine skeptic mentioned Gavi s partnership with the World Wellness Organization during COVID- accusing them of silencing dissenting views and legitimate questions about vaccine safety His speech also cast doubt on the diphtheria tetanus and pertussis vaccine which WHO and other medical agencies have long deemed to be safe and effective Gavi revealed in a declaration Thursday that its utmost concern is the medical and safety of children adding that any decision it makes on vaccines to buy is done in accordance with recommendations issued by WHO s expert vaccine group Several doctors in the United States criticized the decision Dr Paul Offit director of the Vaccine Center at the Children s Hospital of Philadelphia revealed it was incredibly dangerous and warned that defunding immunization would put millions of children at liability Gavi is a public-private partnership including WHO UNICEF the Gates Foundation and the World Bank and it is estimated that the vaccination programs have saved million lives The United States has long been one of its biggest supporters before President Donald Trump s re-election the country had pledged billion through In just under four minutes Kennedy called on Gavi to justify the billion America has provided in funding since saying leaders must consider the best science available even when that science contradicts established paradigms Kennedy stated until that happens the U S won t contribute further to Gavi The wellbeing secretary zeroed in on the COVID- vaccine which WHO Gavi and other medical functionaries have recommended for pregnant women saying they are at higher liability of severe condition Kennedy called that a questionable recommendation his U S Centers for Syndrome Control and Prevention not long ago stopped recommending it He also criticized Gavi for funding of a rollout a vaccine to prevent diphtheria tetanus and pertussis in poorer countries saying he d seen research that concluded that young girls who got the vaccine were more likely to die from all other causes than children who weren t immunized Gavi stated scientists had reviewed all available facts including any studies that raised concerns and that the diphtheria tetanus and pertussis vaccine has played a key role in helping halve childhood mortality Several observational studies have shown that vaccinated girls do have a higher death rate compared to unvaccinated children but there is no evidence the deaths are caused by the vaccine But Offit stated the studies cited by Kennedy were not convincing and that research examining links between vaccinations and deaths did not prove a causal connection There s no mechanism here which makes biological sense for why the diphtheria tetanus and pertussis vaccine might outcome in more children dying Offit disclosed Doctors Without Borders on Thursday predicted countless children will die from vaccine-preventable diseases as a end of the U S withdrawing advocacy for Gavi To invoke misleading and inaccurate alleges about vaccine safety as the pretext for cutting all global vaccine funding is cruel and reckless mentioned Mihir Mankad the charity s global robustness advocacy and procedures director in the U S When we vaccinate in the group parents line up for hours to give their children a chance to be protected from these deadly diseases For these children vaccination programs are a matter of life and death Kennedy s recorded speech to Gavi came on the same day that his reconstituted U S vaccine advisory panel met for the first time He fired the previous -member panel this month and replaced it with a seven-member group that includes several vaccine skeptics