US to re-engage with Gavi vaccine alliance amid Ebola outbreak

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that the U.S. would re-engage with the global vaccine alliance Gavi amid the Ebola outbreak in several African countries.



Rubio told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the decision had been made a few weeks ago to re-engage, after the Trump administration pulled funding from Gavi last year.



Gavi helps the world's poorest countries to buy vaccines, so they can better protect children from diseases such as measles and diphtheria, but it also works in outbreak response.



It has made $50 million available for the ongoing Bundibugyo outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, including $10 million for the immediate response and $40 million to help speed up access to vaccines, which are at an early stage of development.