Gates Foundation Pledges $1.6 Billion to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

Image credit: Gates Foundation

A juxtaposition of vaccine policy and funding is taking place right now. Today, the new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is meeting. Earlier this month, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, dismissed the existing committee of 17 members and replaced them with 8 new ones.¹ The new committee members include: Joseph Hibbeln, MD; Martin Kulldorff, MD, PhD; Retsef Levi, PhD; Robert Malone, MD; Cody Meissner, MD; James Pagano, MD; Vicky Pebsworth, PhD ;and Michael Ross, MD.¹

(Look for Contagion’s report on the CDC ACIP meeting later this afternoon.)

It is believed vaccine policy will be gravely affected by the new CDC committee. In addition, earlier this year, the Trump Administration canceled its over $1 billion grant to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The organization is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate more than half the world’s children against some of the deadliest diseases.²

In a video, Kennedy criticized Gavi. "I call on Gavi today to re-earn the public trust, and to justify the $8 billion that America has provided in funding since 2001," Kennedy said "Until that happens, the United States won't contribute more."

One in five children still lack access to essential vaccines, and outbreaks of preventable diseases—including measles and meningitis—are increasing, threatening to reverse decades of gains.³

“This could lead to things like an uptick in diseases and deaths in some of the poorest countries. And these effects could actually be quite staggering,” Janeen Madan Keller, policy fellow and deputy director of the Global Health Policy program at the Center for Global Development (CGD), said in an interview with Contagion earlier this year. “Some back-of-the-envelope calculations that my colleagues here at the Center for Global Development did suggest that the US terminating its support of Gavi—as well as clawing back some of its bilateral funding for global immunization efforts—could actually result in as many as 20,000 to 500,000 more deaths globally from vaccine-preventable diseases each year.”

In response to these developments, yesterday the Gates Foundation announced a commitment of $1.6 billion over the next 5 years to support Gavi. During Trump’s first term, the administration supported Gavi by pledging $1.16 billion to the alliance—a slight increase from the previous US pledge. The Biden Administration later pledged at least $1.58 billion to Gavi’s replenishment round.⁴

This Gates Foundation commitment looks to pick up where the Biden administration left off.

“For the first time in decades, the number of kids dying around the world will likely go up this year instead of down because of massive cuts to foreign aid. That is a tragedy,” Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation, said in a statement. “Fully funding Gavi is the single most powerful step we can take to stop it.”

Prior to the funding freeze, the US was one of the 3 largest governmental donors to Gavi, along with the United Kingdom, and Norway.² Since 2000, the Gates Foundation has committed more than $30.6 billion to advance vaccines—investing in their discovery, development, and distribution. Of this, $7.7 billion has been directed to Gavi, making it the foundation’s largest grantee.³

References
1.Abene S. HHS Secretary RFK Jr Replaces CDC Vaccine Advisory Panel With New Appointees. Contagion. June 12, 2025. Accessed June 25, 2025.
2. The US Government and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. KFF. July 17, 2024. Accessed June 25, 2025. https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/fact-sheet/the-u-s-government-gavi-the-vaccine-alliance/
3.Child Deaths Will Rise if Funding for Lifesaving Vaccine Program Falters. Gates Foundation press release. June 24, 2025. Accessed June 25, 2025.
https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/media-center/press-releases/2025/06/renewed-gavi-commitment-lifesaving-vaccine-access
4. Madan Keller J, Kenny C. Why the Trump Administration's Plan to Cut Funding to Gavi Is Shortsighted. CGD. March 27, 2025. Accessed June 25, 2025.