The US unfroze $600 million for global vaccines after a year-long standoff

The State Department has committed to releasing $600 million in previously frozen US funding to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, ending a hold that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. put in place in June 2025 over the group's continued use of a mercury-based vaccine preservative [s1].

What the money is and why it was frozen

The $600 million covers congressionally appropriated funding for both fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2026, and had been set to expire 30 September if not obligated [s1]. Kennedy withheld the funds over Gavi's use of thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative used in some multidose vaccine vials, saying the group "doesn't take vaccine safety seriously" [s1]. That characterization runs against the position of the World Health Organization's own evidence reviews, which have concluded that the small doses of thimerosal used in multidose vaccines do not cause harm [s1] — a scientific consensus this dispute did not change, even as it held up the funding for more than a year.

What actually resolved the standoff

Gavi's own statement on the release was measured rather than triumphant: "We are grateful to the United States for its intention to obligate funding to Gavi" [s1] — language that describes an intention to release funds, not confirmation that the money has already changed hands. Senator Susan Collins, who had pushed publicly for the funding's release, said the State Department's commitment followed "our recent outreach" [s1]. The article's own reporting notes that Gavi "has already begun to phase out vaccines containing" thimerosal independent of this funding dispute [s1] — meaning the underlying policy shift Kennedy sought was already in motion before the freeze was lifted, which complicates any claim that the hold caused it.

What this doesn't settle

A one-year funding freeze followed by release doesn't, on its own, establish who was right about the underlying safety question — the WHO's evidence reviews on thimerosal predate this dispute and weren't revisited as part of resolving it. What changed is the funding status, not the scientific record. It's also not yet confirmed, based on available reporting, exactly which fiscal-year obligations have been transferred versus merely committed, or whether any further conditions accompany the release beyond the general framing both sides have offered.

What to watch next

Whether the $600 million is fully obligated before its 30 September expiration, and whether this dispute recurs around future appropriation cycles — the underlying disagreement over thimerosal in Gavi-distributed vaccines wasn't resolved by scientific reassessment, only by a funding commitment, which leaves room for the same standoff to resurface.