US to join Covax and commits to staying member of WHO

US director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, has pledged his country’s commitment to the World Health Organization (WHO), marking the first effort by the Biden administration to mend ties with an agency crucial to fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

Fauci said the US will join Covax, the 92-nation collaboration seeking to deploy Covid-19 vaccines around the world. While the Trump administration had given about $18bn to vaccine and drug development via Operation Warp Speed, it declined to participate in Covax.

“I am honoured to announce that the US will remain a member of the WHO,” Fauci told the Geneva-based organisation via video link on Thursday. “The US also intends to fulfil its financial obligations to the WHO.”

Fauci’s address a day after Joe Biden was sworn in as president, initiates a campaign to reengage with allies spurned by his predecessor. The UN agency was a frequent target of former president Donald Trump, who accused it of being lax on China and failing to provide accurate information about the virus.

Biden reversed the decision to exit the WHO on his first day in office as the US death toll from Covid-19 topped 400,000, higher than any other country.

The US has been the WHO’s largest contributor, providing $400m to $500m in mandatory and voluntary contributions, and Trump’s decision in 2020 drew sharp criticism in Congress, and from allies in Europe. The WHO has been heavily involved in the fight against the coronavirus, especially in poor countries.

Fauci spoke at Thursday’s session of a series of executive board meetings that began on Monday. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus congratulated Biden and vicepresident Kamala Harris on Twitter late on Wednesday.

Once the US resumes its engagement with the WHO, the administration will work with it to strengthen and reform the group, according to a fact sheet released by the Biden transition team earlier this week.

A review process of the WHO has begun, with an independent panel saying earlier this week that the body was underpowered to do the job expected of it during the pandemic. The report, led by former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, criticised missteps by the WHO and some countries, including China. The panel’s final report is due in May.