The United States has released $600 million for Gavi, the vaccine alliance, but said it will not provide U.S. government funding to the World Health Organization through the group. The State Department and the Department of Health and Human Services announced the move in a joint statement, putting fresh money on the table even as they closed off one of the alliance’s funding channels.
That split decision lands now because Susan Collins welcomed the move after pushing for the reinstatement of U.S. support for the global programme. Gavi works to expand access to immunizations around the world, so the release matters well beyond Washington, but the White House has paired it with a condition that keeps the World Health Organization out of the flow of U.S. money through the alliance.
The $600 million is less than one-fifth of Gavi’s roughly $3.4 billion scale, enough to matter but not enough to settle the larger argument over who gets to shape U.S. support. It also comes after Donald Trump instructed Robert Kennedy Jr and Marco Rubio to negotiate reforms with Gavi as a condition for renewed backing. The reforms were not spelled out in detail, but Gavi has agreed to work toward replacing mercury-containing vaccines with mercury-free alternatives.
That is where the new announcement becomes harder to read as simple support. The administration is releasing money for one global vaccination mechanism while using the same move to say the World Health Organization will not receive U.S. funding through it. The joint statement leaves no room for ambiguity on that point, and it reflects a broader break that has been building since Trump first ordered a temporary halt to World Health Organization funding in 2020.
Joe Biden reversed those decisions in January 2021 and restored U.S. funding, but Trump returned to the issue on January 20, 2025, saying the United States would withdraw from the World Health Organization and suspend contributions. The organization, which runs programs on polio, tuberculosis, HIV, malaria and measles and responds to emergencies in places including Gaza, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, operates on a budget of about $3.4 billion. Against that backdrop, the latest move is not just a payment decision. It is a warning that future U.S. support for Gavi may depend on reforms still being negotiated, while the World Health Organization remains outside the channel Washington is now willing to fund.
