Hawaii Joins Public Health Alliance With West Coast States
To say the moves made by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr regarding public health are concerning is a massive understatement. One of the loudest voices of the anti-vaccine movement, RFK Jr. has consistently downplayed the efficacy of vaccines and implemented policies making it harder to access them. In an effort to combat the HHS secretary’s moves, Hawaii has joined a public health alliance of states on the Pacific coast.
According to The Hill, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, and Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson announced the public health alliance on Wednesday through a joint statement. “President Trump’s mass firing of CDC doctors and scientists — and his blatant politicization of the agency — is a direct assault on the health and safety of the American people,” the statement read.
“The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science, ideology that will lead to severe health consequences. California, Oregon, and Washington will not allow the people of our states to be put at risk.”
On Friday, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green announced his state was also joining the public health alliance. “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.”
It’s worth noting that Green is a licensed physician, meaning he has more medical expertise than our current Secretary of Health and Human Services. I hate to say it, but Trump was right. I truly am tired of all this “winning.”
The public health alliance comes after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an updated COVID vaccine, but placed new restrictions, greatly limiting who can access them. Public health experts expressed concerns about the restrictions, believing they may result in more severe cases of COVID and may deter doctors and pharmacists from even stocking them.
“The restrictions are not following the science of what these vaccines can and will do,” Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said in an interview with NPR. “This is a disaster waiting to happen.”
RFK Jr. faced bipartisan scrutiny for his moves at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) during a contentious hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, a day after the public health alliance was announced.
“It’s been obvious from the start that Robert Kennedy’s primary interest is to take vaccines away from Americans,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), the committee’s ranking Democrat, said during the hearing. “His actions reveal a steadfast commitment to elevating junk science and fringe conspiracies.” Even Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) was critical of Kennedy’s handling of vaccines. “Effectively, we’re denying people the vaccine,” Cassidy said.
Kennedy’s rampant firings of CDC workers were one particular point of controversy during the hearing. RFK Jr. removed all 17 members from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), citing “persistent conflicts of interest,” but failed to present evidence of those conflicts. He then installed new members on the panel who have a history of being critical of vaccines.
Kennedy fired former CDC Director Susan Monarez from her job after she refused to approve vaccine restrictions from the panel consisting of “people who have publicly expressed anti-vaccine rhetoric.” Kennedy denied that allegation during the hearing, but maintained that the CDC is corrupt and that he needs “to fire some of those people.”
It’s abundantly clear that RFK Jr. isn’t making decisions predicated on science or a genuine concern for public health, but simply whatever pseudoscience aligns with his preexisting beliefs. With someone as deeply unserious as RFK Jr. in the role of HHS secretary, the public health alliance may need to spread beyond just the West Coast.
SEE ALSO:
HHS Nominee RFK Jr. Defends Racist Vaccine Theory
FDA Approves Updated COVID Vaccines, Restricts Access
RFK Jr. Axes COVID Vaccines For Pregnant Women, Healthy Kids
Hawaii Joins Public Health Alliance With West Coast States was originally published on newsone.com
