Yesterday, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the United States will no longer donate funds to Gavi, the global vaccine program that has saved millions of lives worldwide.
This is one of the deadliest decisions ever made by any American. Since 2000, Gavi has provided vaccines to over 1 billion children. It’s estimated that 20 million lives have been saved through the program. Kennedy’s rationale? Safety concerns.
To be direct: this is devastating news. I’m grateful to Inside Medicine friend Dr. Atul Gawande for joining me for another spontaneous but highly informative Live session on Substack.
As you know, Dr. Gawande was the lead for global health at USAID under President Biden. So, few people know this space better. Even fewer have worked more closely on this issue. We’re fortunate to have access to his expertise, from the data to his insights on whether Congress and other leaders will rise with the occasion by standing up for vaccines.
Please watch this session and share it.
Closed captions (㏄) and a transcript option (📄) can be found beneath the video playback control bar above.
Note: this session is free for everyone, thanks to recent upgrades that make this all possible. ↘
Reminder: Jetelina & Faust will be Live today!
Don’t forget that I’ll be Live with Dr. Katelyn Jetelina at 1 p.m. ET today to debrief on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting. We’ll take your questions, so please contribute in the Comment section below.
Here’s the link to join us.
Here’s a Google Calendar invite with the link as well.
Here’s us last time, trying to stay upbeat…
Thanks for supporting Inside Medicine 🙌.
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