In response to the Trump administration’s policies weakening public health, Pennsylvania has joined a multi-state effort to protect its citizens’ health and safety and provide evidence-based recommendations on vaccines, medications and services.
The move Thursday to join the Northeast Public Health Collaborative comes amid sustained Trump administration efforts to dismantle long-established public health policies, from cancer research to childhood and COVID vaccines.
“Protecting public health has always been a collaborative effort and that joint work has never been more important,” said Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen in a statement. ”Continuing to work with public health experts in other states allows us to exchange best practices, pursue improvements and efficiencies, and explore opportunities to better meet the needs of Pennsylvanians.”
Other states in the regional coalition include Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York State, Rhode Island, and New York City.
The move comes amid an erosion of public trust in the nation’s public health infrastructure, which has seen the reversal of long-established vaccine protocols and the defunding of billions in research on cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, mental health disorders and opioid abuse, among many others.
Among its stated missions, the regional group will work to protect trust in public health, respond to public health threats, and “strengthen confidence in vaccines and science-based medicine.”
The regional partnership, which held its first in-person meeting in Rhode Island in August, has already formed working groups that will address health emergency preparedness and response, and vaccine recommendations, among other objectives.
“In public health, we are always stronger together,” said Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani. “Pathogens know no borders. Particularly in the northeast, people cross borders daily for work and school.”
Juthani noted that public health policy is under “significant change.”
“We are confident that we will preserve and protect core public health principles and services as we navigate current changes together,” she said.
The group intends to coordinate public health preparations for the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted in three northeast cities, including Philadelphia.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s committee tasked with making recommendations to the nation’s vaccine policy was meeting on Thursday and poised to dramatically change the federal guidance on childhood vaccine.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization, which is newly appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and includes vaccine skeptics, is set to vote on guidelines for hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccines.
The panel is expected to discuss the COVID vaccine on Friday.
The Shapiro Administration has urged the CDC panel to recommend the vaccines for all these diseases to all populations indicated in prior ACIP recommendations.
Earlier this month, the State Board of Pharmacy, which provides regulatory oversight to pharmacies, voted to expand access to the COVID vaccine beyond federal recommendations. The move allows pharmacies to follow the guidance of several major medical organizations, rather than the CDC, which is restricting access only to those over 65 and people with certain serious medical conditions.
