The New York City and state health departments, along with the health departments of six other Northeastern states, announced a new regional partnership Thursday to develop vaccine guidance and tackle other public health issues, including infectious disease surveillance and disaster preparedness.
The group, known as the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, immediately issued its official COVID vaccine guidance, preempting recommendations from the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. That committee is meeting Thursday and Friday to discuss and vote on recommendations around COVID vaccines, as well as shots for hepatitis B and measles, mumps, rubella and varicella.
The Northeast Public Health Collaborative is launching as trust in federal public health agencies falters, amid shifting vaccine recommendations, broad cuts and an exodus of leadership.
“ What we’ve seen over the last several months is the erosion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” said Dr. James McDonald, the New York state health commissioner. “ This is where states need to step in and collaborate together so we can actually take care of our populations the best way possible.”
McDonald said the coalition started informally several months ago. It was formed, in part, to “ensure trust in public health” and “strengthen confidence in vaccines and science-based medicine,” according to the city health department’s announcement on the partnership. McDonald added that the states could help each other build up their public health lab capacity and share data.
New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Maine also joined the partnership. States on the West Coast announced a similar alliance earlier this month.
Even before the collaborative launched, New York began issuing its own COVID vaccine guidance for health care providers and insurers, instead of waiting on the federal guidance from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. That federal committee’s recommendations usually determine insurance coverage for vaccines, but McDonald said he is already seeing widespread coverage for the COVID shot in New York based on state recommendations and guidance from professional medical groups, indicating a shifting public health landscape.
McDonald said officials in New York and other states in the collaborative were monitoring the Advisory Committee’s discussion Thursday about potential changes to recommendations around childhood vaccination against hepatitis B and measles, mumps, rubella and varicella, and would consider how to respond.
In the future, McDonald said, the collaborative may also issue its own guidance on non-vaccine topics.