Sacramento – Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that gives California the authority to develop its own immunization schedule based on state health experts and independent medical groups, which is far from decades of relying on federal guidance.
This move is on the same day California and its West Coast Allies Joint recommendations for Covid-19, flu and RSV vaccines have been released as part of a regional coalition designed to deal with what they say is the politicized U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
“Our states unite to put science, security and transparency first and protect families with clear, trusted vaccine guidance,” said the governors of California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii.
With lawmakers and the University of California proposing a $23 billion vote measure to replace the loss of federal fellowships in the Trump-era cuts, it underscores the state’s Democrats’ efforts to protect science and public health as a replacement for lost federal government policies. The measure, if passed by the California Legislature, will be filed with voters in November 2026.
“The loss of critical federal funding from the University of California provides unprecedented dangers for the state and its communities,” Theresa Maldonado, vice president of research and innovation at the University of California, said in a statement.
The health care conflict comes after a wave of magazine cases and an approaching wave of annual flu season. For decades, the CDC has been the authority on trusted vaccines in the United States – setting a timeline for immunization for childhood that guides adults to receive and shape national health policies nationwide.
Now, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy, a long-time vaccine skeptic, defends the need to build trust and “eliminate politics from science.”
“They deserve the truth, and that’s what we’re going to give them for the first time in the agency’s history,” Kennedy told the Senate Finance Committee at a controversial hearing earlier this month.
The overhaul triggered a strong rebound as more than 1,000 employees of health agencies and the National Health Organization have already Calls on Kennedy to resign. However, some states have embraced this approach – Florida has announced plans to be the first state to end all authorized vaccines, including for school children.
Polarization is causing losses. Recent KFF polls It is found that Americans are increasingly uncertain whether public health guidance and new government recommendations will make them more or less safe.
Public health experts say not only are vaccines crucial to individuals and communities’ health, but ultimately they can save money – preventing the rise in disease and health care costs, which leads to widespread disease outbreaks.
Changes in federal vaccine recommendations are sweeping. The Food and Drug Administration, which belongs to Kennedy’s authority, now requires adults aged 65 and other healthy (who do not report potential health problems) to consult a health care provider before receiving a Covid vaccine. Similarly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requires parents of healthy children to talk to health care providers before their children receive COVID vaccines, a barrier to the American Academy of Pediatrics, called “very disturbing.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics has released its own Covid vaccine guidance against the CDC’s recommendations, saying that all young children between 6 and 23 months of age should be vaccinated, as well as some older children at high risk. The group also said that vaccines should be provided to older children if requested by parents.
The CDC also switched its vaccine schedule from a vaccine schedule recommended to all pregnant women to a “no guidance” on whether healthy pregnant women should receive vaccines. In response, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Respected People receive updated Covid-19 vaccines any time during pregnancy.
California said it would also reject CDC guidance, starting with recommendations issued by the West Coast Health Alliance on Wednesday. The recommendations were developed by health officials and subject matter experts in each state who considered guidance from medical organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the American College of Family Physicians.
The West Coast Health Alliance’s COVID-19-19 vaccine recommendations include vaccinating all children between 6 and 23 months of age, as well as children between 2 and 64 years of age, with risk factors. The alliance also recommends vaccination for all pregnant and postpartum women or women planning to get pregnant.
The alliance recommends that children over 6 months of age and all adults and pregnant women receive flu vaccines. For RSV vaccines, the alliance recommends advice for children under 8 months and children over 75 years of age. If a person has risk factors, the alliance recommends RSV vaccines for all other age groups.
“People who live and work in our state know that there is a strong public health, health care and scientific community that they will continue to jointly provide and use the data and evidence you need to make health choices, and we are here to protect our communities.”
