OLYMPIA — In a move to counter the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines coming from the Trump administration, the governors of Washington, California, and Oregon will be launching a new upcoming West Coast Health Alliance.
Joint statement from Governors Gavin Newsom, Tina Kotek, and Bob Ferguson: “President Trump’s mass firing of CDC doctors and scientists — and his blatant politicization of the agency — is a direct assault on the health and safety of the American people. The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science, ideology that will lead to severe health consequences. California, Oregon, and Washington will not allow the people of our states to be put at risk.”
In June, California, Oregon, and Washington condemned HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s removal of all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP), an advisory committee that makes recommendations on the safety, efficacy, and clinical need of vaccines to the CDC.
“Today we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda,” Kennedy Jr said in his June statement on the removal of all 17 members of CDC’s vaccine advisory committee. “The public must know that unbiased science—evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest—guides the recommendations of our health agencies.”
Secretary Kennedy Jr has voiced skepticism about the vaccine regulatory process and stating that enforcement is “weak to nonexistent.” He has also alleged that ACIP members frequently disregard conflict of interest guidelines because of ties to large pharmaceutical corporations, the Federalists reports.
Secretary of Health for Washington State Department of Health, Dennis Worsham in a statement supports the upcoming West Coast Health Alliance criticizing the recent polices of HHS as lacking science-based decision-making which poses a direct threat to the nation’s health security.
“When federal agencies abandon evidence-based recommendations in favor of ideology, we cannot continue down that same path,” Worsham released in a statement. “Washington State will not compromise when it comes to our values: science drives our public health policy. Public health at its core is about prevention — preventing illness, preventing the spread of disease, and preventing early, avoidable deaths. We stand firmly with trusted medical professionals and organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well as fellow West Coast health agencies — whose guidance remains rooted in rigorous research and clinical expertise. Our commitment is to the health and safety of our communities, protecting lives through prevention, and not yielding to unsubstantiated theories that dismiss decades of proven public health practice.”
ACIP was created to provide recommendations on the use vaccines in the U.S. with the CDC utilizing their recommendations to devise immunization schedules for children and adults.
The new smaller ACIP, appointed by Kennedy Jr, included epidemiologist Martin Kulldorff as chair and Dr. Robert Malone. The revamped panel’s first meeting on June 25, focused on forming workgroups to evaluate cumulative vaccine effects (e.g., interactions, total numbers, ingredients, and timing), review older vaccines like the hepatitis B shot given at birth, and address issues such as religious objections to measles vaccine timing.
The revamp ACIP’s goal has been redirected to assess potential links from vaccinations to conditions like autism, allergies, and autoimmune issues.
According to the Governor’s Office. the West Coast Health Alliance will coordinate health guidelines aligned to immunization recommendations approved by the three state’s—California, Oregon, and Washington—trusted scientists, clinicians, and other public health leaders.
“This will allow residents to receive consistent, science-based recommendations they can rely on — regardless of shifting federal actions,” the Governor’s Office says.
Residents can expect guidelines from the new West Coast Health Alliance in the coming weeks, but Tribes will be exempt from following the body’s recommendations.
Wednesday’s announcement by Governor Ferguson comes days after the recent firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez by President Donald J Trump on August 29, after she resisted aligning with new vaccine policies. Also, in mid-August, 600 CDC employees received termination notices.
On March 27, Secretary Kennedy Jr. announced a restructuring plan for HHS to align with President Trump’s Executive Order on workforce optimization.
The plan includes: reducing the HHS workforce by 20,000, from 82,000 to 62,000 ; consolidating HHS’s 28 divisions into 15, including a new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA), and centralizing functions like HR and IT while cutting regional offices from 10 to 5; prioritizing the elimination of chronic illness through safe food, clean water, and reduced environmental toxins; and improving efficiency and responsiveness while preserving Medicare, Medicaid, and other essential services.
Author: Mario Lotmore
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While this new Alliance claims to defend science from Federal politicization, it’s hard to ignore the irony. During the pandemic, WA, OR and CA made deeply political public health decisions: prolonged school closures, prolonged use of emergency powers, and shifting mandates that often reflected partisan alignment more than evolving evidence. Criticizing HHS for ideological overreach while launching a parallel health body rooted in state/party-level ideology feels less like a defense of science and more like a turf war over narrative control. If public trust is the alleged goal, transparency and accountability must be expected of both sides.
I won’t hold my breath.