Earlier this month, Washington State, Oregon and California formed the West Coast Health Alliance in response to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Federal Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed changes to the national schedule and guidelines for children and pregnant women vaccinations, limitations on eligibility for COVID vaccine shots, and the replacement of all members on the CDC vaccine advisory panel.
Hawaii also joined the alliance soon after. The West Coast Health Alliance will review medical information on vaccines and provide guidance for the western states. The alliance was created because of concerns the CDC and FDA are being politicized and aren’t providing accurate medical information.
Similar actions were taken on the east coast as well. Nine states (Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware) formed a regional collaboration to consider coordinating their own vaccine recommendations, separate from the federal government.
For more information, Governor Ferguson’s press release on the formation of the West Coast Health Alliance also includes comments from state health directors and details on the alliance. AFSCME has created a petition urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to fully restore access to vaccines for anyone who needs them and urging decisions to be based on science, not politics. They noted that if vaccines aren’t required, insurance companies won’t cover them, and then families won’t get them. You can sign onto the petition here and make your voice heard.