Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
US to End Vaccine Funds for Poor Countries
d8a347b41db1ddee634e2d67d08798c102ef09ac
By The New York Times
Published 3 days ago on
March 26, 2025

A pharmacist holds a COVID-19 vaccine at a pharmacy in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. (A/Mary Conlon)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Trump administration intends to terminate the United States’ financial support for Gavi, the organization that has helped purchase critical vaccines for children in developing countries, saving millions of lives over the past quarter century, and to significantly scale back support for efforts to combat malaria, one of the biggest killers globally.

The administration has decided to continue some key grants for medications to treat HIV and tuberculosis, and food aid to countries facing civil wars and natural disasters.

Those decisions are included in a 281-page spreadsheet that the U.S. Agency for International Development sent to Congress on Monday night, listing the foreign aid projects it plans to continue and to terminate. The New York Times obtained a copy of the spreadsheet and other documents describing the plans.

The documents provide a sweeping overview of the extraordinary scale of the administration’s retreat from a half-century-long effort to present the United States to the developing world as a compassionate ally and to lead the fight against infectious diseases that kill millions of people annually.

The cover letter details the skeletal remains of USAID after the cuts, with most of its funding eliminated, and only 869 of more than 6,000 employees still on active duty.

In all, the administration has decided to continue 898 USAID awards and to end 5,341, the letter says. It says the remaining programs are worth up to $78 billion. But only $8.3 billion of that is unobligated funds — money still available to disburse. Because that amount covers awards that run several years into the future, the figure suggests a massive reduction in the $40 billion that USAID used to spend annually.

A spokesperson for the State Department, which now runs what is left of USAID, confirmed the terminations on the list were accurate and said that “each award terminated was reviewed individually for alignment with agency and administration priorities, and terminations were executed where Secretary Rubio determined the award was inconsistent with the national interest or agency policy priorities.”

The memo to Congress presents the plan for foreign assistance as a unilateral decision. However because spending on individual health programs such as HIV or vaccination is congressionally allocated, it is not clear that the administration has legal power to end those programs. This issue is currently being litigated in multiple court challenges.

Among the programs terminated is funding for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, which conducts surveillance for diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans, including bird flu, in 49 countries. Some major programs to track and fight malaria, one of the world’s top killers of children, have also been ended.

Dr. Austin Demby, the health minister of Sierra Leone, which relies on Gavi’s support to help purchase vaccines, said he was “shocked and perturbed” by the decision to terminate U.S. funding and warned that the ramifications would be felt worldwide.

“This is not just a bureaucratic decision, there are children’s lives at stake, global health security will be at stake,” he said. “Supporting Gavi in Sierra Leone is not just a Sierra Leone issue, it’s something the region, the world, benefits from.”

In addition to trying to reach all children with routine immunizations, Sierra Leone is currently battling an mpox outbreak, for which Gavi has provided both vaccines and critical support to deliver them, he said.

“We hope the U.S. government will continue to be the global leader it always been — putting money in Gavi is not an expenditure, it’s an investment,” Demby said

Gavi is estimated to have saved the lives of 19 million children since it was set up 25 years ago. The United States contributes 13% of its budget.

The terminated grant to Gavi was worth $2.6 billion through 2030. Gavi was counting on a pledge made last year by President Joe Biden for its next funding cycle.

New vaccines with the promise to save millions of lives in low-income countries, such as one to protect children from severe malaria and another to protect teenage girls against the virus that causes cervical cancer, have recently become available, and Gavi was expanding the portfolio of support it could give those countries.

The loss of U.S. funds will set back the organization’s ability to continue to provide its basic range of services — such as immunization for measles and polio — to a growing population of children in the poorest countries, let alone expand to include new vaccines.

By Gavi’s own estimate, the loss of U.S. support may mean 75 million children do not receive routine vaccinations in the next five years, with more than 1.2 million children dying as a result.

The U.S. has been among the top donors to the organization since its creation, and became the largest during the COVID-19 pandemic. While European countries have historically provided significant funding, many are now reducing foreign aid spending as they grapple with the change in U.S. policy on Ukraine and the U.S. demand that they increase their defense spending. Japan, another major Gavi donor, is struggling with a depreciating currency.

Dr. Sania Nishtar, Gavi’s chief executive, said she hoped the Trump administration would reconsider the decision to end its support. Gavi’s work keeps people everywhere, including Americans, safe, she said. In addition to protecting individual children, vaccination reduces the possibility of large outbreaks. The organization maintains global stockpiles for vaccines against diseases such as Ebola and cholera, deploying them in rapid response efforts for epidemics.

Gavi’s structure requires countries to pay part of the cost of vaccines, with their share growing as income levels rise; middle-income countries are weaned from support.

The memo says that 869 USAID personnel were working as of last Friday, while 3,848 were on administrative leave and 1,602 are in the process of being laid off. Of 300 probationary employees who were initially fired, 270 have returned to work following a court order prohibiting their dismissal.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Stephanie Nolen
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Elon Musk Sells X to His Own xAI for $33 Billion in All-Stock Deal

DON'T MISS

US Naval Academy Ends Affirmative Action in Admissions

DON'T MISS

Elon Musk Backtracks on a Legally Questionable Plan to Pay Voters

DON'T MISS

Appeals Court Clears Way for DOGE to Keep Operating at USAID

DON'T MISS

Trump Pledges US Aid for Asia Quake Despite Former Official Saying System in ‘Shambles’

DON'T MISS

Is Fresno Political Consultant Alex Tavlian Behind Election Attack Mailer?

DON'T MISS

Gronk-a-Mania Set to Run Wild Over WrestleMania Weekend

DON'T MISS

Federal Judge Blocks Trump From Dismantling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

DON'T MISS

St. Agnes’ Newest Robot Promises Less Invasive Surgeries, Faster Recoveries

DON'T MISS

California Food Banks Brace for Funding Cuts, and Not Only From the Trump Administration

UP NEXT

US Naval Academy Ends Affirmative Action in Admissions

UP NEXT

Elon Musk Backtracks on a Legally Questionable Plan to Pay Voters

UP NEXT

Appeals Court Clears Way for DOGE to Keep Operating at USAID

UP NEXT

Trump Pledges US Aid for Asia Quake Despite Former Official Saying System in ‘Shambles’

UP NEXT

Is Fresno Political Consultant Alex Tavlian Behind Election Attack Mailer?

UP NEXT

Gronk-a-Mania Set to Run Wild Over WrestleMania Weekend

UP NEXT

Federal Judge Blocks Trump From Dismantling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

UP NEXT

St. Agnes’ Newest Robot Promises Less Invasive Surgeries, Faster Recoveries

UP NEXT

California Food Banks Brace for Funding Cuts, and Not Only From the Trump Administration

UP NEXT

Why the Nation Would Be Wise to Support a Third Term Amendment for Donald Trump

Appeals Court Clears Way for DOGE to Keep Operating at USAID

13 hours ago

Trump Pledges US Aid for Asia Quake Despite Former Official Saying System in ‘Shambles’

13 hours ago

Is Fresno Political Consultant Alex Tavlian Behind Election Attack Mailer?

13 hours ago

Gronk-a-Mania Set to Run Wild Over WrestleMania Weekend

15 hours ago

Federal Judge Blocks Trump From Dismantling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

15 hours ago

St. Agnes’ Newest Robot Promises Less Invasive Surgeries, Faster Recoveries

15 hours ago

California Food Banks Brace for Funding Cuts, and Not Only From the Trump Administration

15 hours ago

Why the Nation Would Be Wise to Support a Third Term Amendment for Donald Trump

16 hours ago

RIP, Bill Lyles: One of Fresno’s Most Iconic Builders and Philanthropists

16 hours ago

Madera Authorities Seize 80 Pounds of Meth, Arrest Two Suspects

17 hours ago

Elon Musk Sells X to His Own xAI for $33 Billion in All-Stock Deal

JACKSONVILLE, Mi — Elon Musk has sold social media site X to his own xAI artificial intelligence company in a $33 billion all-stock deal, th...

12 hours ago

12 hours ago

Elon Musk Sells X to His Own xAI for $33 Billion in All-Stock Deal

13 hours ago

US Naval Academy Ends Affirmative Action in Admissions

13 hours ago

Elon Musk Backtracks on a Legally Questionable Plan to Pay Voters

13 hours ago

Appeals Court Clears Way for DOGE to Keep Operating at USAID

13 hours ago

Trump Pledges US Aid for Asia Quake Despite Former Official Saying System in ‘Shambles’

13 hours ago

Is Fresno Political Consultant Alex Tavlian Behind Election Attack Mailer?

15 hours ago

Gronk-a-Mania Set to Run Wild Over WrestleMania Weekend

15 hours ago

Federal Judge Blocks Trump From Dismantling Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend