Trump tries to recover billions from COVID vaccine distributor

Within days of his term in office, President Donald Trump has proposed $ 27.4 billion in brutal budget cuts, including the clawback of $ 5.1 billion from global public health amid a raging pandemic. Of the proposed health reductions, $ 4 billion would be deducted from a vaccine alliance playing a central role in delivering COVID-19 vaccines to low-income countries.

The proposed cuts are part of a recession demand, which has no chance of being passed by Congress, as Politico reports. However, the proposed cuts – especially to the vaccine alliance – are likely to add insult to injury to the global public health community, which continues to fight the pandemic out of control.

Globally, the total number of COVID-19 cases exceeds 93 million and deaths are approaching 2 million. In the United States alone, the seven-day moving average of daily new cases is over 235,000, with 129,000 people currently hospitalized. About 4,000 people have died each day for the past three days, bringing the death toll in the United States to around 380,000.

In May, Trump announced he would “end our relationship” with the World Health Organization, to the exasperation of health experts around the world. In September, the Trump administration said it would not participate in a WHO-backed effort called COVAX to help develop and equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccines internationally, including in countries with low income. The move sparked yet another round of criticism from public health experts, who called it “myopic” and “self-destructive.”

At the time, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven stressed how essential it was to get involved in global immunization efforts, saying: “Equal access to a COVID-19 vaccine is key to defeat the virus and pave the way for recovery from the pandemic. .. This cannot be a race with a few winners, and the COVAX facility is an important part of the solution – ensuring that all countries can benefit from access to the world’s largest portfolio of applicants and candidates. fair and equitable distribution of vaccine doses.

Almost 100 other high-income countries have joined COVAX, including China, filling the “leadership vacuum” left by the Trump administration.

The move was also “doomed to failure” as the United States is already funding one of the main organizers of COVAX, namely Gavi, the vaccine alliance.

Gavi funding is exactly what the Trump administration now wants to cut by heading for the door. In calling for the recession, the administration justified the reduction with vaccine nationalism, writing:

The $ 4 billion funding designated as an emergency need would provide US funds to support international vaccination efforts well ahead of the clearly stated US policy of vaccinating at-risk populations in the United States before supporting international vaccination efforts. .

However, as Politico notes, Congress has budgeted for national and international immunization, and funding for Gavi is not prioritized over domestic funding.