‘They are going to kill us’: Panic spreads over Trump admin’s new pandemic vote

The United States was one of just three nations to vote against a declaration on “pandemic prevention, preparedness and response” that was adopted by the United Nations, drawing alarm from public health advocates.

“They are going to kill us,” advocate Laura Miers, best known for her commentary on COVID-19, wrote in a social media post on X Tuesday.

Adopted in a vote of 153-3, with two abstentions, the declaration outlines how countries can improve their response to future pandemics and includes 64 recommendations such as expanding access to vaccines, committing to protect vulnerable populations, and strengthening international coordination. The declaration is not legally binding.

The United States, Israel and Argentina were the only nations to vote against adopting the declaration. New Zealand and Paraguay abstained from the vote.

The text had been expected to pass by consensus at a high-level meeting in September, but objections from the United States and a few other countries forced a vote, according to UN News. The U.S. representative had cited “divisive ideologies that lack definitional consensus,” as well as the declaration’s references to ongoing negotiations over an annex to the World Health Organization’s pandemic agreement.

“Now why would the US, Israel, and Argentina very specifically vote NO on a new global pandemic preparedness declaration?” Miers asked. “Let’s think about this for a moment.”

Colorado-based journalist Mat Smith blamed Republicans.

“Republicans stopped believing in science when it became profitable to do so,” Smith wrote, reacting to the U.S. vote against the pandemic preparedness declaration.

For decades, the United States has often voted against the overwhelming consensus of the United Nations alongside Israel, particularly on issues related to Palestine.

In 2021, the United States and Israel were the only nations to vote against a resolution affirming that having access to food was a human right. The United States and Israel were the only nations to vote against ending the longstanding U.S. embargo on Cuba in 2024, and in 2023, the United States and Israel were joined by just two other nations, Micronesia and Nauru, in voting against affirming Palestinians’ right to self-determination.