Several Northeastern states and New York City have announced a regional coalition aimed at strengthening public health capabilities and reinforcing evidence-based health guidance.
Called the Northeast Public Health Collaborative, it follows an informal meeting in August and other talks between the members’ public health authorities that began earlier this year. It follows a similar partnership announced earlier this month among three West Coast states, as well as individual actions several member states took in recent weeks to preserve vaccine access as federal authorities mull controversial policy changes.
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and the New York City Health Department were initially listed as members of the coalition. Officials from Maryland and Vermont later confirmed their participation in the group, while leaders from Delaware had previously disclosed they were part of the effort.
“In public health, we are always stronger together,” Connecticut Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani, M.D., said in a statement. “Pathogens know no borders. Particularly in the Northeast, people cross borders daily for work and school. In a time of significant change in public health, we have benefited from the enhanced collaborations between our jurisdictions. We are confident that we will preserve and protect core public health principles and services as we navigate current changes together.”
The members, in their joint announcement Thursday, said they plan to share resources, data and knowledge with an end goal of protecting residents’ health and affirming trust in public health authorities. They also aim to bolster community health and “strengthen confidence in vaccines and science-based medicine”—a rising concern as healthcare associations and former federal health officials warn that national-level policies do not align with evidence.
“Strong public health must stand high above ideology,” Robbie Goldstein, M.D., commissioner of public health for Massachusetts, said in the announcement. “Our region understands this, and we are moving forward, resolute, united, and guided by science.”
The partners said they’ve already stood up interjurisdictional working groups to get the ball rolling on “multiple public health disciplines, including public health emergency preparedness and response, vaccine recommendations and purchasing, data collection and analysis, infectious disease, epidemiology and laboratory capacity and services.”
They’ve also worked together to develop new guidance for protecting healthcare workers and patients during the upcoming respiratory virus season, preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and workforce pipeline development.
Of note, individual members have the option to participate in or adapt specific initiatives “consistent with their particular needs, values, objectives, and statutory or regulatory requirements.”
The Northeast Public Health Collaborative’s announcement was less explicitly critical of federal health agency leadership than that of its West Coast counterpart, which pointed to “blatant politicization” of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The past several weeks have seen particular turmoil at the agency.
Director Susan Monarez was fired over what she and other departed leadership described as a demand to blindly rubber-stamp childhood vaccine schedule changes made by an advisory committee packed with vaccine skeptics by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. That panel, the Advisory Council on Immunization Practices (ACIP), is meeting Thursday and Friday to discuss the potential changes and is expected to push back the recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine from birth to four years.
Even before this week’s developments, concerns over abrupt changes to COVID-19 booster recommendations, the exclusion of major medical organizations from vaccine work groups, a move away from the preservative thimerosal during the remade ACIP’s first meeting and new agency-backed investigations of the debunked link between vaccines and autism triggered alarm bells among public health groups. The American Academy of Pediatrics, for instance, openly denounced new immunization recommendations coming out of the ACIP and issued its own recommendations in August.
Individual members of the new coalition have also wielded their authority to blunt the downstream impact of changing federal recommendations. More restrictive Food and Drug Administration criteria, for instance, led several states to issue executive directives allowing pharmacists to administer COVID vaccines. This week’s announcement of the partnership was also joined by state-level vaccine guidances issued by governors.
"We must always protect our public health infrastructure, reject misinformation, and maintain trust in science," Michelle Morse, M.D., acting health commissioner for New York City, said in the announcement. "The collaborative is working together to rebuild public trust, and provide factual information, so people can make informed decisions about their health, and continue our critical work to address health inequities.”
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect additional announcements from Delaware, Maine and Maryland officials on their participation in the coalition.