Democrat governors in California, Washington, and Oregon jointly announced Wednesday the formation of a "health alliance" to coordinate on vaccine access and unified recommendations, their response to what they called the Trump administration's "destruction" of scientific integrity.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the formation of the Western Health Alliance, which will develop immunization guidelines "informed by respected national medical organizations."
The announcement comes a week after the White House fired Susan Monarez, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The same three governors also jointly condemned Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for dismissing 17 vaccine experts on the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in June.
"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," the governors said in a joint prepared statement.
The governors said that in the coming weeks, the alliance "will start coordinating health guidelines by aligning immunization recommendations" as well as guidance on vaccines for COVID-19 and seasonal flu.
"This will allow residents to receive consistent, science-based recommendations they can rely on — regardless of shifting federal actions," they wrote.
The same three states banded together to form the "Western States Pact" in 2020 to coordinate on pandemic restrictions. California, Washington and Oregon were among the last states to lift mask mandates.
Health officials from eight northeastern states also recently met to discuss taking similar action on vaccine recommendations.
The announcement also comes the same day that Florida announced the end of all vaccine mandates for children.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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