Democrat-run states issued a joint statement condemning shifts within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
Governors Gavin Newsom (CA), Tina Kotek (OR), and Bob Ferguson (WA) claimed the dismissals fuel a “crisis of public trust.”
“Together, our states depend on the best science and knowledge available to protect public health, including scientific information about immunizations,” Newsom stated. “We have grave concerns about the integrity and transparency of upcoming federal vaccine recommendations and will continue to collaborate to ensure that science and sound medicine prevail to prevent any loss of life.”
The joint declaration noted that the states’ health departments will “continue to recommend all individuals age 6 months and older should have access and the choice to receive currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines, with an emphasis on protecting higher risk individuals, such as infants and toddlers, pregnant individuals, and others with risks for serious disease.”
Wisconsin similarly declared it will continue recommending the COVID-19 vaccine.
Kennedy has since named eight new vaccine policy advisers to serve on the ACIP.
The CDC has also pulled its recommendation that healthy children and pregnant women receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I couldn’t be more pleased to announce that, as of today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC’s recommended immunization schedule,” Kennedy said at the time. “Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot, despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children.”
