The Washington Post (10/15, Ovalle, Sun) reports that on Wednesday, 15 Democratic governors “announced the formation of a state public health alliance. … Leaders of the Governors Public Health Alliance said it will serve as a hub for governors and public health leaders to monitor disease outbreaks, establish public health policy guidance, prepare for pandemics and buy vaccines and other supplies.” This “alliance, spanning states where roughly 1 in 3 Americans live, underscores the increasing fragmentation of a public health system that has been upended by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” whose “challenge to long-standing vaccine recommendations has already prompted Democratic governors to form regional initiatives to provide immunization guidance.”
Reuters (10/15, Mahatole) reports this “alliance of mostly Democratic states and territories comprises Colorado, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Guam.”
The AP (10/15, Mulvihill, Stobbe) reports the governors are “framing it as a way to share data, messages about threats, emergency preparedness and public health policy.”