Hawaii is joining a coalition of West Coast, Democratic-led states forming a new public health alliance in opposition to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
California, Oregon, and Washington announced the alliance on Wednesday, which officials say will provide “evidence-based immunization guidance” rooted in “safety, efficacy, and transparency” to ensure residents receive “credible information free from political interference,” according to a statement from California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Hawaii’s Governor Josh Green, an emergency room physician, said islanders understand how critical it is to protect communities from preventable diseases.
“By joining the West Coast Health, we’re giving Hawaii’s people the same consistent, evidence-based guidance they can trust to keep their families and neighbors safe,” Green said in a statement.
“This approach is critical as we all go forward into an era with severe threats from infectious diseases.”
The alliance was formed in response to Secretary Kennedy’s overhaul of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including the recent ousting of top agency officials.
Kennedy forced former CDC Director Susan Monarez out of the position after the two butted heads over federal vaccine policy. Four top agency leaders resigned shortly after Monarez was let go, claiming that Kennedy’s leadership was getting in the way of the CDC’s mission to protect public health.
Monarez said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that she was fired after she refused to preapprove recommendations of a vaccine advisory panel filled with “people who have publicly expressed antivaccine rhetoric.” Kennedy denied these claims during a Senate Finance Committee hearing held on Thursday.
“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,” the governors said in a joint statement.
HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon criticized Democratic-led states, blaming their COVID-19 pandemic policies for Americans’ distrust in public health agencies.
“Democrat-run states that pushed unscientific school lockdowns, toddler mask mandates, and draconian vaccine passports during the COVID era completely eroded the American people’s trust in public health agencies,” Nixon wrote to The Hill.
“ACIP remains the scientific body guiding immunization recommendations in this country, and HHS will ensure policy is based on rigorous evidence and Gold Standard Science, not the failed politics of the pandemic.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
