U.S. opts out of WHO-linked global COVID-19 vaccine effort

The Trump administration is pulling U.S. officials from the headquarters of the World Health Organization, the multilateral agency leading the global fight against the cornavirus pandemic, even as cases in the United States climb above 6 million.

The U.S. officially announced its withdrawal from the WHO this summer, initiating a year-long process that will not go into effect until a year later on July 6, 2021. But the State Department announced Thursday that the U.S. is already beginning to scale down its engagement, including “recalling the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) detailees from WHO headquarters, regional offices, and country offices, and reassigning these experts.”

“Today, the @realDonaldTrump Administration continues to move forward with the United States’ withdrawal from the @WHO,” Secretary Pompeotweeted on Thursday. “The WHO failed to adopt urgently needed reforms, starting with demonstrating its independence from the Chinese Communist Party.”