Blue-state confederacy rises to defy federal vaccine policy
Four liberal states on the West Coast have formed an alliance to defy federal public health policy on vaccines.
Washington, California, and Oregon declared a new “West Coast Health Alliance” on September 3rd, vowing to “strengthen public confidence in vaccines and in public health.” Hawai’i enlisted a day later. The confederacy arose in defiance of the Trump administration’s more measured approach to vaccines, which emphasizes safety. In recent weeks, the CDC scaled back its COVID-19 recommendations to at-risk children and older adults, while the FDA withdrew authorization for the shots in the young and healthy. Meanwhile, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has revived the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, a move that sparked outrage among the Left and the legacy media.
The West Coast Health Alliance has taken particular issue with Kennedy’s decision in June to dismiss all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Kennedy cited conflicts of interest among many committee members who had financial stakes in drug companies, and accused the committee of never once rejecting any vaccine that came up for review. Kennedy has since added several experts to ACIP, including Dr. Robert Malone, co-inventor of the mRNA technology in the COVID-19 shots.
“Since its founding, the CDC has been central to protecting Americans from disease. But recent leadership changes, reduced transparency, and the sidelining of long-trusted advisory bodies have impaired the agency’s capacity to prepare the nation for respiratory virus season and other public health challenges,” Washington Governor Bob Ferguson said in a statement last week welcoming Hawai’i to the alliance.
Late last month, the Trump administration fired CDC Director Susan Monarez after she refused to adopt HHS’s more safety-focused stance on vaccines. Four other senior officials resigned over the administration’s more tempered vaccine policies.
“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,” Governors Gavin Newsom, Tina Kotek, and Ferguson said in a joint statement. “California, Oregon, and Washington will not allow the people of our states to be put at risk.”
The newly launched cartel has aligned itself with guidance from associations like the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) instead of guidance from the CDC. The AAP has taken a hard line on vaccines and vaccine mandates, even going so far as to demand the elimination of all non-medical exemptions for children.
A day after the alliance was formed, the Washington Department of Health issued a standing order on COVID-19 vaccines. In defiance of the federal government’s pullback on the shots for young and healthy populations, the order recommends them for all populations six months and older, including “pregnant individuals,” and makes them available over the counter.
“For some individuals, vaccination under this standing order will be ‘off-label’ use of currently licensed COVID-19 vaccines,” the standing order read. “Health care providers can adhere to guidelines developed by professional associations and use their best medical judgement [sic] in vaccinating their patients.”
Florida to end vaccine mandates
Meanwhile, Florida is working to end all vaccine mandates in the state, which are primarily enforced in schools. According to a statute, children must provide proof that they have received vaccines for “communicable diseases” to attend school or daycare. The Florida Department of Health currently requires vaccination for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTaP); polio; measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR); hepatitis B; and varicella (chickenpox).
“Who am I to tell you what your child should put in their body? Your body is a gift from God,” Surgeon General of Florida Dr. Joseph Ladapo said at a press conference on September 3rd, slamming vaccine mandates as immoral. “Every last one of them is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery,” he added.
Ladapo acknowledged that ending the mandates depends on Florida’s legislature repealing the statute that requires school immunizations. “That’s how this becomes possible,” he said.
