West Coast Health Alliance formed by California, Oregon and Washington amid CDC turmoil
On Sept. 3, 2025, California, Oregon and Washington announced the West Coast Health Alliance in Sacramento to provide independent, science-based vaccine recommendations after leadership changes at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised public concern.
Key Takeaways
- Governors Gavin Newsom (CA), Tina Kotek (OR) and Bob Ferguson (WA) unveiled the West Coast Health Alliance on Sept. 3, 2025.
- The alliance aims to issue evidence-based vaccine guidance while federal CDC guidance is in flux following HHS personnel moves.
- HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed CDC advisory panel members and fired senior CDC leaders earlier in 2025.
- Federal changes include new FDA and CDC procedures that require provider consultation for some COVID vaccine recipients, affecting access.
- Public trust appears strained: a recent KFF poll found growing uncertainty about federal public health guidance.
- State officials point to prior regional reviews — including California’s 2020 safety review of COVID vaccines — as a model for independent vetting.
Verified Facts
The three governors announced the alliance on Sept. 3, 2025, saying it will produce science-based immunization recommendations and make credible information about vaccine safety and effectiveness available to the public. The announcement came amid restructuring at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in June 2025 and has dismissed senior CDC leaders, moves that federal critics say have unsettled the agency’s longstanding role on vaccine policy. The CDC estimates COVID-19 infections were growing or probably growing in 30 states and the District of Columbia as of the last federal update.
Regulatory changes this year include an FDA requirement that many adults under 65 consult a health care provider before getting the updated COVID vaccine, and CDC guidance that parents consult providers before vaccinating healthy children — steps that professional groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics called concerning. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has continued to recommend COVID vaccination for pregnant people.
Context & Impact
The alliance revives a playbook used in 2020 when California assembled a team to independently review newly authorized COVID vaccines; Washington, Oregon and Nevada later joined that Western review group. State-level reviews previously concluded the vaccines were safe and effective, and leaders now cite that experience in creating the West Coast Health Alliance.
Experts warn of two competing risks: further erosion of public trust if federal guidance appears politically driven, and increased fragmentation of immunization policy across states if insurers and programs follow federal recommendations rather than state alliances. Insurance coverage and reimbursement for vaccines often follow CDC guidance, so changes at the federal level could affect how vaccines are paid for.
Public health specialists also say the alliance is both a symbolic and practical statement: it offers an alternative authoritative voice while signaling states’ willingness to coordinate clinical guidance, education campaigns and potential review processes for vaccines.
“The CDC has become a political tool that increasingly peddles ideology instead of science,”
Governors Gavin Newsom, Tina Kotek and Bob Ferguson (joint statement)
Unconfirmed
- Whether the West Coast Health Alliance will secure long-term funding or formal regulatory authority to override federal guidance is unresolved.
- The scale and timing of any federal retaliation or funding changes directed at the three states remain speculative.
- How quickly insurers will change coverage policies if federal recommendations diverge from the alliance’s guidance is unclear.
Bottom Line
The West Coast Health Alliance represents a coordinated state-level response to sudden changes at the federal level, intended to preserve independent, evidence-based vaccine guidance for residents of California, Oregon and Washington. The move may reassure some clinicians and families but could also deepen policy fragmentation around immunization access and payment as flu season and a new wave of COVID-19 infections unfold.