State Health Alliances Fight BackIn today’s edition of “Where you live impacts your health,” 18 states and territories have joined health alliances in an effort to counter HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s anti-vaccine agenda, and the disruptive decisions made by the newly appointed CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. In June 2025 Kennedy fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and while the newly installed committee members declared that they “are not anti-vaxxers,” in September 2025 they voted against recommending COVID-19 vaccines for people who are 6 months and older, and earlier this month they overturned decades-long norms for administering the Hepatitis B vaccine for infants. In response, the governors of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Guam, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state, have established the West Coast Health Alliance, the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, and the Governor’s Public Health Alliance – similar to how they responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. The alliances have already issued vaccine recommendations for COVID-19, flu and RSV, and unlike the CDC, their recommendations align with US medical professional associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the American Academy of Family Physicians. Considering that national public health systems are in shambles under Trump 2.0, strong state leadership that prioritizes science, data, and communication is critical. Moreover, this is a reminder of the importance of the 36 gubernatorial races that will be on the ballot in the 2026 midterms. Is your state primed to elect a new governor? Are you tapped into the race? Send me a note about what’s happening in your state at contact@juanitatolliver.com.
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