U.S. officials are declining to fund a global vaccine alliance called Gavi until it commits to halting the distribution of vaccines containing thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative.
The federal government had asked Gavi to “submit a detailed action plan with a timeline for the phase-out of thimerosal-containing vaccines within Gavi’s vaccine investment portfolio,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, headed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., told The Epoch Times in a Jan. 29 email.
“Until a plan for removal of thimerosal-containing vaccines is developed and the plan initiated, the United States will withhold future new funding and pause access to the … line of financing. Gavi has refused to develop this plan,” the spokesperson said.
“If they took this action, this would bring the poorest countries in line with the standards in the U.S., Canada, most European nations, who have long-since phased-out thimerosal-containing vaccines for children.”
Kennedy said in June 2025 that the United States would not provide any money to Gavi, to which it has provided $8 billion since 2001, until the organization improves its approach to vaccine safety. He did not mention thimerosal.
About a month later, Kennedy approved guidance from vaccine advisers to direct vaccine manufacturers to stop selling influenza vaccines with thimerosal in the United States.
“Injecting any amount of mercury into children when safe, mercury-free alternatives exist defies common sense and public health responsibility,” he said at the time.
U.S. officials removed thimerosal from most vaccines starting in 1999, when some studies suggested that early exposure to mercury could harm children.
“We received a request from the U.S. government to remove thimerosal from our portfolio. We remain in contact on this subject,” a Gavi spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email. “While we very much hope to find a pathway to welcoming the U.S. back as a donor, any decision related to Gavi’s portfolio would require a decision by Gavi’s Board and input from preceding governance committees, which will be guided by scientific consensus.”
Thimerosal is used in multi-dose vials of certain vaccines to destroy bacteria and fungi that could enter the vials each time a new dose is drawn. That enables the safe and effective administration of vaccines that might otherwise take longer to reach people, particularly in remote areas, according to Gavi.
Gavi pointed to World Health Organization reports, including a report from 2012 that said “available evidence strongly supports the safety of the use of thiomersal as a preservative” in vaccines and a 2025 paper that concluded that the most rigorous studies do not support a link between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism.
The United States withdrew from the World Health Organization this year in part because it says the organization did not respond well to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gavi, which receives funding from a mix of governments and other entities such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, also confirmed that Gavi no longer has U.S. representation on its board because the United States has not conveyed any funding for the current financial period.
The United States pledged $300 million to Gavi during the Biden administration.