Delaware joins eight other northeastern states in a public health coalition with a focus on developing independent vaccine recommendations amid concerns around health policy at the federal level.
Blue states across the country have been taking action to protect vaccination requirements amid concerns that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will make changes to the longstanding national vaccine schedule for children.
The worries come amid Kennedy’s recent decisions to oust the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), replace all members on the CDC vaccine advisory panel and encourage a schedule change to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put limits on who is eligible for the fall COVID vaccine shot, restricting approval to people who are 65 or older or have other health problems that put them at risk — this means healthy adults and children who want to get the vaccine must now get a prescription outside federal recommendations.
The CDC is expected to weigh in soon with its own recommendations on who should get inoculated, but the center already dropped guidelines that call for all healthy children and healthy pregnant women to routinely get vaccinated.
Washington State Department of Health Secretary Dennis Worsham told NPR the new FDA limit was the catalyst for regional West Coast states to begin discussing collaborative immunization policies, instead of relying on the CDC’s recommendations, which has historically been the case.
This prompted the creation of the West Coast Health Alliance — including membership from Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii — which aims to provide "unified recommendations on immunizations to residents based on science, not politics."
Blue states within the Northeast have a similar goal in mind, and Friday, Gov. Matt Meyer announced Delaware would by joining those efforts in a regional public health coalition.
“Science must continue to determine how we keep our state healthy, and that science says vaccines save lives and protect our communities,” Gov. Meyer said in a statement. “We’re proud to join this regional public health collaborative to make sure science leads the development of all healthcare policy, so that every Delawarean can access safe public spaces, and the social contract we all sign to be a part of this great state can be upheld.”
The multi-state collaborative is focused on developing "evidence-based recommendations on vaccinations, disease surveillance, emergency preparedness and supporting state public health labs."
While not all states have publicly confirmed their participation, The Boston Globe reports public health leadership from all of the New England states, except for New Hampshire, attended a meeting to discuss the coalition in late August, as well as New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Delaware's Division of Public Health Medical Director Dr. Awele Maduka-Ezeh said in a statement, “Through this partnership, we can apply the latest evidence to improve vaccination coverage and disease surveillance in Delaware, while aligning with neighboring states that share our common goals of protecting the public’s health.”
While these coalitions of blue states are forming to protect vaccine requirements, Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo announced they will both be working to “end all vaccine mandates” within the state.
Delaware's Division of Public Health was unavailable for further comment.
