It's yet another sign of rising distrust toward vaccines in the United States, after repeated attacks on the country's vaccination policy from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.), who has openly expressed vaccine skepticism for several years. On Wednesday, September 3, the top health official in the Republican-led state of Florida, Joseph Ladapo, announced his intention to end all vaccine requirements in Florida, including those for schoolchildren, comparing vaccine mandates to "slavery."

Reflecting the polarization between Republicans and Democrats on this issue, three Democratic states – California, Oregon and Washington – retaliated the same day by announcing the formation of a health alliance to issue their own vaccination recommendations, "informed by trusted scientists, clinicians and other public health leaders." According to their statement, this was a "response to recent federal actions that have undermined the independence of the CDC and raised concerns about the politicization of science."

The crisis between Kennedy and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – the US agency that, among other duties, is responsible for guiding vaccination strategy – has been brewing for several months. It came to a head with the abrupt dismissal, on August 27, of CDC Director Susan Monarez, who had been appointed less than a month earlier. She was replaced the very next day by Jim O'Neill, a former biotechnology executive with no medical or scientific training.

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