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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(128,914 posts) Wed Sep 3, 2025, 12:25 PM Sep 3

California, Washington and Oregon push back on Trump's CDC with West Coast Health Alliance

Last edited Wed Sep 3, 2025, 01:57 PM - Edit history (1)

California, Oregon and Washington are joining forces to insulate vaccine guidance and other public health recommendations from political interference, a direct response to turmoil at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under President Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, Tina Kotek of Oregon and Bob Ferguson of Washington announced Wednesday the creation of the West Coast Health Alliance, a pact that aims to keep their states’ health policies unified and grounded in scientific expertise. The move comes as the nation's top public health agency is being reshaped by Kennedy and his vaccine-skeptic allies, with key leadership fired and the agency in turmoil.

“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 three governors said in a joint statement. "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, the three states issued a joint statement condemning Kennedy's decision to remove all 17 members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Among the replacements named by Kennedy are appointees who spread vaccine misinformation and relayed conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Associated Press.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/california-pushes-back-trumps-cdc-140000442.html

West Coast Health Alliance: West Coast states push back against ‘politicized’ CDC

BY FRANK SUMRALL

West Coast states are taking health into their own hands.

Washington, Oregon, and California have launched a groundbreaking West Coast Health Alliance to counter what leaders call federal mismanagement of public health. The alliance aims to deliver science-driven vaccine guidance and restore public trust.

Governor Bob Ferguson announced that the move ensures residents get clear, consistent health information — free from political interference.

“President Trump’s mass firing of CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] doctors and scientists — and his blatant politicization of the agency — is a direct assault on the health and safety of the American people,” Ferguson said in a joint statement alongside California Governor Gavin Newsom and Oregon Governor Tina Kotek. “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.”

https://mynorthwest.com/local/west-coast-health-alliance-cdc/4127259?lid=coqbncbcgq8g

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Highlight:

California, Washington and Oregon push back on Trump's CDC with West Coast Health Alliance (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Sep 3 OP

Can CA interfere with tRump's health care plan and provide ACA coverage BigmanPigman Sep 3 #1

MaddowBlog-To circumvent RFK Jr. on vaccines, Democrats and blue states start getting creative LetMyPeopleVote Sep 4 #2

BigmanPigman

(53,829 posts)

1. Can CA interfere with tRump's health care plan and provide ACA coverage

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Wed Sep 3, 2025, 04:59 PM

Sep 3

with financial help as usual? I get so confused these days. I can't keep anything straight since it is constantly changing rapidly.

LetMyPeopleVote

(170,114 posts)

2. MaddowBlog-To circumvent RFK Jr. on vaccines, Democrats and blue states start getting creative

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Thu Sep 4, 2025, 10:38 AM

Sep 4

Ideally, the United States wouldn’t have a patchwork public health system, but the Trump administration hasn’t left blue states with much of a choice.

The list of blue states (or at least states led by Dems) circumventing RFK Jr and Trump on vaccines and public health keeps growing:
- California
- Oregon
- Washington
- Massachusetts
- Illinois
- New Mexico
- Pennsylvania

This shouldn't be necessary, but here we are. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-09-04T13:02:43.631Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/circumvent-rfk-jr-vaccines-democrats-blue-states-start-getting-creativ-rcna229022

Ideally, the United States wouldn’t have a patchwork public health system, with different vaccine recommendations depending on where Americans live. But with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. taking a sledgehammer to the federal system, once-trusted public health departments reeling under politically imposed chaos and Republican-led states moving in radical and dangerous directions, the national system that has existed for decades without controversy has been rendered unsustainable.

And so, reality-based officials are having to get creative.

NBC News reported, for example, on three West Coast states forging a new public health alliance to provide “credible information” about vaccine safety to the public.

The governors of California, Oregon and Washington announced Wednesday that they were working to provide unified recommendations to ‘ensure residents remain protected by science, not politics.’ The action comes after months of upheaval at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including the firing of the agency’s director last week.

The Democratic governors — Washington’s Bob Ferguson, Oregon’s Tina Kotek and California’s Gavin Newsom — warned that the public would likely face “severe” consequences if the CDC becomes “a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science.”,,,,,,

What’s more, they’re not alone. The New Republic’s Greg Sargent reported last week:

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker’s health department in Illinois is currently exploring the possibility of purchasing Covid-19 vaccines in bulk straight from manufacturers in response to the mess in Washington, a senior Illinois health official confirms to me. Meanwhile, a coalition of mostly blue states led by Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey is planning to coordinate on the purchase and distribution of pediatric vaccines, should the federal government restrict access to them, according to a source familiar with ongoing discussions.

Indeed, The Boston Globe reported this week that Healey “essentially wrote a prescription for Covid shots for every person in the state over the age of 5, a move that would blunt potential federal restrictions on Covid boosters.”....

Dr. Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota vaccine expert who heads a project to help states and professional societies make science-based vaccine recommendations, told the Globe this week, “This is one of the most dangerous times that public health has faced in the last 50 years.”

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