West Coast States Plan Vaccine Guidance to Counter Trump CDC (1)

Top health officials in California, Oregon, and Washington will begin coordinating immunization recommendations under a new partnership announced Wednesday in response to recent changes at the CDC that the states say undermine the federal agency’s credibility.

The West Coast Health Alliance will “help safeguard scientific expertise by ensuring that public health policies” in the three states “are informed by trusted scientists, clinicians, and other public health leaders,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) office said in a press release.

The alliance plans in the coming weeks to release shared principles intended to strengthen the public’s confidence in vaccines and public health, Newsom’s office said.

Health leaders in each of the states said the coordination is intended to ensure the safety of their citizens following US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s firing of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez, as well as his decision to replace members of a key vaccine recommendation panel with people who have questioned the safety of vaccines.

“The dismantling of public health and dismissal of experienced and respected health leaders and advisors, along with the lack of using science, data, and evidence to improve our nation’s health are placing lives at risk,” Erica Pan, director of the California Department of Public Health, said in a statement.

The move is the most formalized multi-state response to the changes instituted under Kennedy’s leadership, which has also included pulling Covid-19 shot recommendations for healthy kids and pregnant women. The American Academy of Pediatrics and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists each issued guidance in August continuing to promote Covid-19 shots for these populations.

Leaders across various states have said they planned to shift from their reliance on federal immunization recommendations and more closely follow data and recommendations from medical associations. State health officials in the Northeast, for example, have been meeting to discuss potentially coordinating their vaccine guidance.

Dennis Worsham, Washington state’s health secretary, said in a statement that officials in his state “stand firmly with trusted medical professionals and organizations,” along with “fellow West Coast health agencies — whose guidance remains rooted in rigorous research and clinical expertise.”

The California Department of Health told Bloomberg Law in August that it intended to follow AAP and ACOG recommendations on Covid-19, Influenza, and RSV vaccines, adding that the department “remains committed to ensuring that all Californians continue to have access to safe and effective vaccines that are based on credible, transparent and science-based evidence.”

In response to the West Coast partnership, an HHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices “will continue to be the statutory authority guiding immunization policy in this country.”

The alliance announcement comes a day after Kennedy penned a Wall Street Journal opinion piece calling for the CDC to return to tracking infectious diseases and pandemic response. Kennedy’s outlined priorities for the agency also included “enhancing scientific rigor” through “ensuring America leads the world in safe, effective vaccines and trusted guidance.”