As the US government shutdown continues, Democratic governors are setting up a nonpartisan, nonprofit public-health alliance to fill in gaps in pandemic preparedness, infectious-disease tracking, guideline writing, and vaccine stockpiling left by the Trump administration's funding cuts, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Governors Public Health Alliance, which represents about a third of the US population, says its creation was fomented by opposition to a series of funding and staffing cuts made by US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. They say the resulting public-health chasm is putting citizens at risk and pushing them to seek alternatives.
"In light of the assaults on science and medicine coming out of Washington, governors have to step up and lead," Gov. Kathy Hochul of (D-New York) told the Journal. "We really have no choice. The cost of inaction is just too high."
Member states and territories are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.
Largest action yet to offset federal missteps
The Governors Public Health Alliance is just the most recent—and thus far, the largest—move to safeguard citizens from the effects of the federal government's crumbling public health system.
A growing number of healthcare providers, scientists, policymakers, and state leaders have stepped in to counter cuts to global and domestic health programs, dwindling public-health expertise at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and misleading and dangerous federal health guidance on topics such as vaccines.
The federal government sets policies and funds public-health programs, but most public-health authority resides with states, which decide, for example, which vaccinations children need to enroll in schools. Over 75% of CDC funding goes to state and local health departments.
For example, in response to recommendations to scale back eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine, some governors have issued emergency orders stating that citizens don't need a prescription to be vaccinated at a pharmacy.
'More efficient and cost effective'
The Governors Public Health Alliance said it hopes to recruit more governors, especially Republicans, to the effort, which will be coordinated by the nonprofit GovAct and funded by philanthropy.
Gov. Jared Polis (D-Colorado) said further federal public-health cuts may prompt more states to join the coalition. "I think many states will find that it's more efficient and cost effective" to work together, he said.
In a news release this week, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is "proud to help launch this new alliance because the American people deserve a public health system that puts science before politics. As extremists try to weaponize the CDC and spread misinformation, we're stepping up to coordinate across states, protect communities, and ensure decisions are driven by data, facts, and the health of the American people."
In Hawaii, Democratic Gov. Josh Green, a physician, said that disease risks are growing. "We've had cases of measles and pertussis [whooping cough]," he said. "We normally don't have that."
Green added that the United States is less prepared than ever for another pandemic. "It's not just the lack of infrastructure, it's also the lack of research" into, for instance, mRNA vaccines.
An HHS spokesman told the Wall Street Journal that the agency will ensure that policy set by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices "is based on rigorous evidence and gold standard science, not the failed politics of the pandemic. 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."
