WASHINGTON — The Governors Public Health Alliance (PHA), a nonpartisan coalition of 15 Governors representing approximately one-third of the U.S. population and spanning every region in the country, defends evidence-based vaccine guidance in an amicus brief filed today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in American Academy of Pediatrics v. Kennedy. PHA’s brief urges the court to uphold the district court’s order protecting the integrity of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and describes how recent federal actions have disrupted the evidence-based vaccine guidance that Governors and state public health agencies have relied on for decades. PHA’s brief was drafted with the support of Zuckerman Spaeder LLP.
Reliable, science-based national immunization guidance is essential to helping Governors protect public health, coordinate across state lines, and respond effectively to disease outbreaks. Without a credible national standard, states are forced to divert scarce public health resources to develop replacement guidance, respond to public confusion, and maintain access to recommended vaccines.
PHA writes: “The federal government’s reconstitution of ACIP and departure from evidence-based vaccination policy have significantly increased costs to states and risks to their residents and compromised cross-border public health.”
Drawing on Governors’ experience overseeing public health agencies and responding to infectious disease threats, the brief explains that states have embedded ACIP recommendations throughout their public health systems—including school immunization requirements, Medicaid and insurance coverage, pharmacist scope of practice, emergency preparedness, and vaccination programs. The loss of a trusted, evidence-based national framework has required states to expend significant resources creating emergency policies and alternative guidance to preserve continuity of care.
PHA further warns that inconsistent vaccine guidance weakens cross-state coordination and makes it harder to respond to public health threats that do not stop at state borders.
“Uniform, science-based federal vaccination guidance is critical to state public health efforts both within and across states,” PHA writes. “No coalition of States, however well-resourced, can reproduce the single national standard of care as protective as public health as ACIP once provided.”
The brief concludes that weakening evidence-based national vaccine guidance increases costs for states, undermines public confidence, and threatens the coordinated public health infrastructure Governors depend on to protect their communities. PHA urges the court to uphold the district court’s order, which requires that ACIP be properly constituted by scientific experts.
The full amicus brief is available here.
About the Governors Public Health Alliance
The Governors Public Health Alliance (PHA) is a nonpartisan coalition of Governors — representing approximately one in three people in the U.S. — working together to strengthen public health systems, protect access to evidence-based care, and coordinate responses to health threats across state lines. An initiative of GovAct, the Alliance brings together Governors and senior state officials to share best practices, reinforce scientific integrity, and ensure communities receive clear, credible health information. To learn more, go to www.GovsforHealth.org.
About GovAct
Governors Action Alliance (GovAct) is a nonpartisan nonprofit initiative that helps Governors work across state lines to champion fundamental freedoms and improve people’s lives. GovAct serves as a central platform for collaboration across Governors’ offices—incubating, launching, and supporting alliances of Governors. These alliances share cutting-edge policy and legal approaches to some of the most challenging and critical issues we face, from reproductive freedom and democracy to public safety and health. To learn more, go to www.GovActAlliance.org.