Unless you’ve been living under a rock (if you are, can I join you?), you’ll know it’s nothing new that Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr.’s anti-science inanity has been a costly one. It’s thanks to this, after all, that Kennedy’s reintroduced measles to the U.S.; confused and endangered pregnant people with baseless “medical” advice; and enabled junk science to have a special place in policy. But as Politico reported on Tuesday, his stupid recklessness is also going global.
Per the outlet, Kennedy is blocking $600 million from going to international humanitarian group Gavi—which, in its 26-year history, has delivered 39 million doses of malaria vaccines across 25 countries in Africa and helped vaccinate more than a billion children in the world’s poorest countries—because he’s worried it’s still using an ingredient that he personally thinks causes autism. Great.
Specifically, RFK is concerned over Gavi’s use of “thimerosal,” a vaccine preservative that’s made partly with mercury—though not the kind you find in fish, and not necessarily the kind that your body struggles to break down. Kennedy has long had it out for thimerosal, and in 2014 wrote a book tying its use to mercury poisonings—calling it a “known neurotoxin,” and claiming it caused autism and ADHD. (According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, thimerosal is safe. Oh, and while we’re at it, so is mifepristone.)
In July, RFK also signed a CDC recommendation to remove thimerosal from vaccines after the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice—whose members he fired before replacing them with his personal picks—agreed that it was dangerous. That decision was reversed in March by a Boston judge, who also found the panel wasn’t properly appointed.
Speaking to Politico, a HHS senior press secretary said Gavi was declining to propose a plan on phasing out thimerosal from its operations. “Gavi has refused to provide the United States with the specific data, studies, or detailed accounting of how U.S. funds are used.”
Congress appropriated funds to Gavi earlier this year—which typically happens once every five years, ever since it was founded in 2000 to provide vaccines to the world’s poorest countries. According to Gavi, the group hasn’t received from the U.S. what would be otherwise account for 15% of its budget—and funds are set to expire at the end of September. Speaking to AFP on Friday, its CEO, Sania Nishtar, said the lack of funding—in addition to funding cuts—could lead to the deaths of tens of thousands of children.
