Gov. Josh Green is one of 15 state governors that have joined forces to launch a new alliance to coordinate public health efforts.
The Governors Public Health Alliance, announced Wednesday, will serve as a nonpartisan coordinating hub for governors and their public health leaders, according to a news release.
It will facilitate data sharing, communications about health threat detections, emergency responses, public health guidance, and the deployment of experts. Participating states have already begun sharing best practices, the release said, and coordinating executive actions governors can take to strengthen public health protections, such as directives to preserve access to COVID-19 vaccines.
“Viruses and illness don’t stop at state borders and our preparedness shouldn’t either,” said Gov. Josh Green, who is also a physician. “I am proud to be part of this new effort, giving governors and our public health teams new tools to coordinate and deliver clear, consistent, science-based guidance to the public at a time when we are facing unprecedented public health challenges.”
Other participating governors include Bob Ferguson of Washington state; Maura Healey of Massachusetts; Kathy Hochul of New York; Tina Kotek of Oregon; Ned Lamont of Connecticut; Lou Leon Guerrero of Guam; Dan McKee of Rhode Island; Matt Meyer of Delaware; Wes Moore of Maryland; Phil Murphy of New Jersey; Gavin Newsom of California; Jared Polis of Colorado; JB Pritzker of Illinois; and Josh Stein of North Carolina.
Together, the alliance represents more than 1 in 3 people in the U.S., and is a joint response to the Trump administration’s upending of public health policy.
Under U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, long-standing routine childhood vaccinations are being unraveled.
Kennedy’s new advisory committee to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s has recommended against offering parents a combined measles-mumps-rubella-varicella vaccine before age 4 and for a separate varicella shot instead.
Medical experts criticized this, saying there was no new scientific data for the recommendation, and that it potentially reduces choices for parents, and access to vaccines.
President Donald Trump and Kennedy also have stated that pregnant women and young children should stop using Tylenol, linking it to autism. The statement has been criticized as having no scientific basis.
Although the alliance is nonpartisan, all 15 participating governors are Democrats.
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement that “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.” He said that HHS would ensure policy is based on “Gold Standard Science,” not the failed politics of the pandemic.
The alliance, however, said it will serve as a unified liaison with the global health community, and share policies that “keep science front and center.”
The alliance is supported by GovAct, a nonprofit initiative that supports governors in protecting fundamental freedoms. Among its advisors are former CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen.
“We can no longer rely on the information coming out of Washington, D.C., but our states are coming together to unequivocally state that science still matters,” said Gov. Ferguson in the release. “Diseases don’t stop at state borders — and preparedness shouldn’t either. By joining forces, we will act faster and communicate better to ensure our communities stay healthy.”
Source: The Garden Island
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