LONDON — The Trump administration has told global vaccine group Gavi to phase out shots containing the preservative thimerosal as a condition of providing the group with funding, a US official and a Gavi spokesperson told Reuters.

The request, which Reuters is the first to report, is the latest sign of efforts by the administration of President Donald Trump to influence health policy globally.

Anti-vaccine groups, including one founded by US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have for decades claimed that thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative used in vaccines, is linked to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, despite many studies showing no related safety issues.

In June last year, Mr. Kennedy cut $300 million in annual funding for Gavi, which helps the world’s poorest and lower-income countries buy vaccines to prevent diseases such as measles and diphtheria.

Mr. Kennedy, who has long promoted anti-vaccine views contrary to scientific evidence, says the group ignores safety issues with the immunizations it provides. Gavi says vaccine safety is its utmost concern.

“Until a plan for removal of thimerosal-containing vaccines is developed and the plan initiated, the United States will withhold future new funding,” an official for the US Department of Health and Human Services told Reuters.

The official would not comment on when the request was made, but claimed Gavi has so far refused to develop such a plan. A Gavi spokesperson confirmed the request to remove thimerosal from its portfolio, and said the group remained in contact with the US government on the subject.

“While we very much hope to find a pathway to welcoming the US 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,” the spokesperson said.

OFTEN USED IN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES
Thimerosal is mainly used to ensure vaccines in multi-dose vials remain stable. That helps immunization campaigns in low- and middle-income countries because multi-dose vials are cheaper and simpler to distribute, Gavi and the World Health Organization say.

The preservative has largely been phased out in high-income countries, where vaccines usually come in a single-use format, although its use is not prohibited. Under Mr. Kennedy, the US moved last summer to stop use of influenza vaccines containing thimerosal, representing around 5% of flu shots given in the country, despite US health agencies having declared them safe.

The US official said the request of Gavi aims to bring its policies in low- and middle-income countries in line with the US, Canada, and most European nations.

The safety of thimerosal has been studied for decades, after concerns were raised in the 1990s about exposure to mercury in vaccines, according to the WHO.

No compelling scientific evidence has been found to suggest that there is a risk, particularly when compared to the dangers of keeping children unprotected against deadly diseases, the WHO says.

The US request applies both to the remaining $300 million that the Biden administration had pledged to Gavi with Congressional approval, but which is still outstanding, and to any future funding, the official said.

The US previously contributed around 13% of Gavi’s funding, and the organization has embarked on a series of cost-cutting measures to try to address the shortfall, which has been exacerbated by cuts from other high-income nations.

The Trump administration has cut billions of dollars in health funding internationally and withdrawn from the WHO.

The US government has said it is still committed to global health and is pursuing bilateral agreements with countries under Mr. Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda.

Last week, the US health department said a hepatitis B vaccine study in Guinea Bissau would help inform global policy.

The study, funded by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is now undergoing further ethical review after international criticism.

The US CDC last month withdrew its longstanding recommendation that all newborns should get the hepatitis B vaccine, drawing a swift rebuke from vaccine experts. — Reuters

INDIA is monitoring Nipah virus infections, with two reported from its eastern state of West Bengal since December, the health ministry said, as some Southeast Asia nations step up scrutiny of air travelers.

Tuesday’s confirmation came a day after Thailand said it had tightened airport screening measures, with neighboring Malaysia following suit.

“Speculative and incorrect figures regarding Nipah virus cases are being circulated,” the Indian ministry warned in a statement that put the tally of infections at two.

Authorities have identified and traced 196 contacts linked to both cases, it added, with none showing symptoms and all testing negative for the virus.

Thailand has assigned designated parking bays for aircraft arriving from areas with Nipah outbreaks, its health ministry said, while passengers must make health declarations before clearing immigration.

Malaysia’s health ministry said it was beefing up preparedness via health screening at international ports of entry, especially for arrivals from countries at risk.

“The ministry remains vigilant against the risk of cross-border transmission following sporadic infections in several other countries,” it added in a statement on Wednesday.

The World Health Organization (WHO), which estimates Nipah’s fatality rate at 40% to 75%, ranks it as a priority pathogen for its potential to trigger an epidemic. There is no vaccine to prevent infection and no treatment to cure it. — Reuters

KANTHARALAK, Thailand — Thai lawmaker Phumin Leethiraprasert has switched party allegiances in his re-election campaign for a February 8 poll, aiming to show voters he can make tough decisions to help border communities scarred by clashes with neighboring Cambodia.

“I am not running for Pheu Thai this time around because of the border conflict,” said Mr. Phumin, 62, referring to the party of billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra that dominated swathes of Thailand’s mainly agrarian northeast for decades.

Nationalist sentiment has surged across Southeast Asia’s second largest economy after a perception that the Pheu Thai-led administration’s handling of a border crisis led to the worst fighting with Cambodia in decades, killing 149 people.

“Bombs hit our homes, and our people died,” the former doctor, who has forged new ties with one of the political parties racing to harness the nationalist fervor in the final stretch of the campaign, told a small crowd at a rally.

Voters angered by the damage in his district of Kantharalak had urged Mr. Phumin to defect, he said last week.

So he is now running as a candidate of the Kla Tham Party, an ally of the ruling Bhumjaithai, which took power after the border row led to the removal of Thaksin’s daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was then prime minister.

‘MAKE THEM AFRAID’
Anger and anxiety linger in the area after 19 Thais were killed and hundreds of thousands evacuated from border communities, such as Kantharalak, in two bouts of fighting in July and December.

“We have to make them afraid,” said Uthai, a 58-year-old in the village of Sam Meng, referring to Cambodia. “We have been too soft.”

Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a second ceasefire in late December, ending weeks of clashes following the collapse of a July truce brokered with the help of US President Donald Trump.

Many voters are backing the Thai army’s plans for a border wall along parts of the 817-kilometer (508-mile) land frontier, Mr. Phumin said, though construction has yet to begin.

“They don’t want to see border crossings reopened or trade with Cambodia resume.”

PARTIES SEEK TO RIDE WAVE
In the midst of the intense border fighting, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul dissolved parliament in December after fewer than 100 days in power, setting the stage for snap polls, designed to gain from the wave of intense nationalism unleashed.

At rallies, Mr. Anutin and his Bhumjaithai expressed strong support for the military and the construction of the border wall, a policy echoed by other conservative, pro-army groups.

That has forced key rivals, the progressive People’s Party, which is leading in the polls, and Pheu Thai, to redraw campaign planks to avoid appearing unpatriotic, said political scientist Thitinan Pongsudhirak at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.

“They are being portrayed as not nationalist enough, not patriotic enough, and not anti-Cambodian enough,” he said, describing the efforts of pro-military parties to undercut the competition.

The People’s Party, long associated with calls for military reforms, has softened its anti-establishment stance, underlining plans to exert diplomatic pressure on Cambodia to ensure stable ties with Thailand.

Pheu Thai, facing widespread criticism over Mr. Thaksin’s once- close ties with former Cambodian premier Hun Sen, is redoubling efforts to show it is committed to defend Thailand’s sovereignty.

“We can live alongside them,” said Samrong Narasa, whose home in the village of Sam Meng, about 10 km (6 miles) from the border, was destroyed by Cambodian shelling in December.

“But we don’t want to be friends with them,” added the 52-year-old, who wants the new government to do more to protect people and their livelihoods. — Reuters