Two newly formed health alliances, the West Coast Health Alliance and the Northeast Public Health Collaborative , banded together to promote “evidence-based health policies, share data and issue joint recommendations” in the wake of new leadership in the CDC.
The Northeast Collaborative comprises seven states: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. The West Coast Health Alliance consists of Washington, Oregon, California and Hawai’i.
The two coalitions formed in response to federal limitations on vaccine accessibility imposed under Robert F. Kennedy, the standing Health and Human Services Secretary. Unlike his predecessors, Kennedy fired every member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP), who voted on issues like vaccine recommendations and schedules. Kennedy then proceeded to replace these experts with advisers of his own choosing. Resulting recommendations stray from former CDC and current WHO guidelines.
Kennedy’s changes have led some to question the federal agency and its authority, including the former head of the CDC, Susan Monarez, who testified against Kennedy to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. In her testimony, Monarez states Kennedy informed her that the childhood vaccine schedule would be changing in September and that she “needed to be on board.” Kennedy’s anticipated policy changes have prompted preventative measures from each of the coalitions as they brace for significant modifications to federal childhood vaccination policy.
Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology Jim Russo teaches a class on infectious disease and is familiar with the CDC’s typical operating procedure and Kennedy’s changes.
“The CDC does not have an independence, a scientific independence anymore, […] there’s always political decisions that an entity needs to make, but in a very different way … In 80 years there’s never been a CDC director who’s ever been fired by the president until now,” Russo said.
Professor of Anthropology Jason Pribilsky, who specializes in the field of medical anthropology, highlighted the symbolic value of the alliance as well as the logistical and physical influence of their objectives.
“[The WCHA] is a middle finger to the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) approach,” Pribilsky said. “Diseases don’t recognize state borders and that fact makes some of the WCHA work symbolic, politically potent symbolically, but symbolic nonetheless.”
When asked further about the shift in the role public health plays in the lives of the individual American, Pribilsky said that it’s becoming more divided.
“I think we’re seeing an extreme individualistic strain in people’s control over their own health. Public health itself feels a little bit on the decline,” Pribilsky said.
One way governors of these states, such as Kathy Hochul of New York, are choosing to work around some of CDC’s new recommendations is through pharmacy clearance to administer COVID-19 vaccines to any willing participants. Another supporter of this tactic is Dennis Worsham, Washington’s new Secretary of Health, appointed by Governor Bob Ferguson. Worsham has been serving since July 7, 2025.
In a public Q&A forum addressing questions from both reporters and locals, Worsham spoke about how the opposing schedules will affect coverage for Washingtonians.
“How insurance coverage works will be a process that we’ll have to learn more about going forward … But we’re sure that we can get there as a state around the guidance and […] recommendations we’re making as a collective,” Worsham said.
If the recommendations of the coalition stray from the FDA’s, they are considered “off label.”
“[the WCHA] will use our authorities and our powers under our health officers and our medical professions to be able to do standing orders and coverage,” Worsham said.
Worsham added that under this model, a singular insurance policy cannot be applied wholesale to states in the coalition; rather, the states must adhere to their individual policies regarding insurance coverage.
Darta Sipola, a fourth-year Biochemistry Biophysics and Molecular Biology major, hopes that the coalition will clarify concerns about changes to vaccination policy.
“I’m thrilled to know that there is an initiative like this. I feel more confident and hopeful that this will create a more honest environment for public health,” Sipola said.
When asked about the current direction of the CDC and its recommendations, Sipola said digestibility of information was a major concern.
“It’s […] tough because scientific literacy is a hard thing to teach and learn. I didn’t feel confident reading scientific articles until I got to upper level biology classes at Whitman… I hope the alliance can do some work on giving people the proper tools to reach their own conclusions, since I think that would do a lot more good long-term than teaching people to follow recommendations blindly. I want to stay hopeful, but it’s tough to be optimistic right now,” she said.
The coalitions will need to adapt to changing public health policies. However, these alliances stand firm in their mission to provide better access to COVID-19 vaccinations, promoting differing recommendations when necessary and advocating for other areas of public health that they see as being threatened by Kennedy’s CDC.
