With just a few days left in office, President Donald Trump proposed $ 27.4 billion in brutal budget cuts – including the recovery of 5.1 billion in global public health from a violent pandemic. Of the proposed health cuts, $ 4 billion would be eliminated from a vaccine alliance that plays a central role in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to low-income countries.
The proposed cuts are part of a recession request, which has no chance of being sanctioned by Congress, according to the Politico. However, the proposed cuts – particularly for the vaccine alliance – are likely to add insult to the global public health community, which continues to fight the pandemic out of control.
Worldwide, the total number of COVID-19 cases is over 93 million, and deaths are approaching 2 million. In the US alone, the seven-day continuous average of new daily cases is over 235,000, with 129,000 people currently hospitalized. About 4,000 people died every day for the past three days, bringing the death toll in the U.S. to about 380,000.
In May, Trump announced that he would “end our relationship” with the World Health Organization, much to the dismay of health experts around the world. In September, the Trump administration said it would not participate in a WHO-supported effort, called COVAX, to help develop and equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccines internationally, including low-income countries. The move drew a new round of criticism from public health experts, who called it “myopia” and “self-destructive”.
At the time, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven emphasized how essential it is to be involved in global vaccination efforts, saying: “Equal access to a COVID-19 vaccine is the key to fighting the virus and paving the way for recovery from pandemic. .. This cannot be a race with 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 candidates and the fair and equitable distribution of vaccine doses ” .
Almost 100 other high-income countries have signed COVAX, including China, filling the “leadership vacuum” left by the Trump administration.
The change was also “self-destructive” because the United States is already funding one of the main organizers of COVAX, namely Gavi, the vaccine alliance.
Financing Gavi is exactly what the Trump administration wants to cut now that it comes out the door. In the recession request, the government justified the cut with vaccine nationalism, writing:
The $ 4 billion in funding designated as an emergency requirement would provide US funds to support international vaccination efforts well ahead of the US’s clearly stated policy to vaccinate populations at risk in the United States before supporting international vaccination efforts.
However, as the Politico notes, Congress has budgeted for domestic and international vaccination, and Gavi’s funding has no priority over domestic funding.