LONDON (Reuters) -Global vaccine group Gavi has secured $9 billion for its work over the next five years helping to immunize the world's poorest children, its board chair, Jose Manuel Barroso, said on Wednesday.

The group announced the total at the end of a fundraising summit in Brussels. It includes new pledges from donors like the United Kingdom and the Gates Foundation, as well as money left after COVID-19.

It did not include a pledge from the United States. Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr said that the United States would no longer fund Gavi and accused it of ignoring vaccine safety, without citing any evidence. In response, Gavi said safety was its primary concern.