New York and Other States Form Health Bloc as Answer to Trump’s Policies

New York|New York and Other States Form Health Bloc as Answer to Trump’s Policies

New York and several other Northeastern states are forging a regional public health coalition to issue vaccine recommendations and coordinate public health efforts in a rebuke to the Trump administration’s shifts on health policy, according to two New York officials.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to announce New York’s involvement in the initiative on Thursday morning. The effort is similar to the West Coast Health Alliance — a bloc of four Democratic-controlled Western states, including California — that issued its own vaccine guidance this week.

Both the Western and Northeastern regional coalitions reflect efforts to shore up public health efforts and give a government stamp of approval to vaccines at a time when federal public health institutions are in retreat.

Like the Western initiative, this one, known as the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, appears to be particularly focused on encouraging widespread vaccination as the federal health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is waging a broad campaign against vaccines. In recent weeks, the federal government has canceled major contracts for vaccine research and development and imposed restrictions that limit access to updated versions of the Covid vaccine. The creation of the coalition was described by public health officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity before an official announcement.

State officials are expected to issue recommendations for who should receive the most recent coronavirus vaccines: infants and toddlers between 6 and 23 months old and adults older than 19. The recommendations state that healthy children older than 2 years and adolescents may be vaccinated against the coronavirus, and that any children with underlying health conditions should be vaccinated.

“Vaccines save lives, and this guidance ensures every New Yorker from our youngest children to those at highest risk has safe, reliable access to the Covid vaccine,” the New York State health commissioner, Dr. James V. McDonald, said.

The recommendations differ sharply from those issued by the federal government. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the updated coronavirus vaccines only for people 65 and older and for younger people who have underlying medical conditions that make Covid more dangerous. But it did not authorize the vaccines for healthy adults younger than 65. That led a number of state officials, including Ms. Hochul, to issue executive orders to authorize pharmacists to give the latest coronavirus vaccines to most people who want them.

The Northeast Public Health Collaborative includes New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and New York City, which has the largest municipal health department in the nation.

Public health officials said in interviews that planning for the Northeast collaborative had been underway for some time and that representatives from state health departments met at a hotel in Rhode Island last month to hammer out specifics. The initiative has already formed working groups on topics including vaccine recommendations, data collection and laboratory capacity.

Officials said the effort built on existing public health efforts among the states, such as a longstanding network of New England public health laboratories whose directors have been meeting for decades to troubleshoot problems.

Officials said that the members of the Northeast Public Health Collaborative intended to coordinate public health preparations for the 2026 World Cup and work together on state laboratory services.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.