OR, WA and CA forming their own health alliance

[oregonjen]

https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/03/vaccines-oregon-washington-california-cdc/

The democratic governors of Oregon, Washington and California are forming a new public health partnership aimed at preserving access to vaccines.

The partnership, called the Western Health Alliance, will develop its own immunization guidelines “informed by respected national medical organizations,” according to a press release Wednesday from Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“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.

Their announcement comes after a week of chaos at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

[Lovie777]

1. Yes...............

[Prairie Gates]

2. Hail Cascadia-California

The US had a nice run, but it's time for something new.

[BigmanPigman]

3. I just read a CA Covid article 2 minutes ago.

Last edited Wed Sep 3, 2025, 10:29 PM - Edit history (1)

https://inewsource.org/2025/08/15/san-diego-covid-wastewater-data-ucsd-scripps-search-dashboard/

I am pissed of now since it seems CA and similar states could still lose HHS funding and will be shut down.

I googled "current Covid statistics for CA" and there were NONE!!! Everything has been stopped by the Kennedy moron.

[obamanut2012]

5. I know Sacramento does its own testing

[obamanut2012]

4. Thank you, Gavin!

[hlthe2b]

6. And Colorado's Public Health Officer has just issued a legal STANDING ORDER to allow:

Anyone over the age of 6 months to be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine WITHOUT a prescription. It thus provides the legal cover for CVS, Walgreens, and individual pharmacists to provide the vaccine regardless of the unscientific changes to CDC guidelines.

So, while I would have liked (and will still encourage) CO State Health Officer Ned Calonge to discuss consensus participation with CA, WA, and OR in the future, I think this will provide legal relief for COVID-19 administration for right now.

[PSPS]

7. This arrangement was originally set up shortly after the onset of the covid pandemic

During trump's first term, when he was spouting all the nonsense such as "oh, it will just go away," bleach, dewormer, etc., as well as denigrating scientists at CDC and FDA, it was obvious the feds were compromised. That's when this cooperate effort was initially established between the western coastal states. It likely went moribund when Biden was elected but, well, here we are in an even worse environment.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

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

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.”