California Reaffirms Vaccines Amid Federal Autism Controversy
California, along with Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii, has reaffirmed its vaccine guidance, urging parents to immunize their children despite recent federal messaging that raised concerns over vaccines and autism.
The West Coast Health Alliance criticized the CDC under Health Secretary Robert Kennedy for promoting what it calls “dangerous misinformation” linking vaccines to autism. The alliance emphasized that decades of rigorous international research show no causal connection between vaccines and autism, a condition influenced by multiple genetic and environmental factors.
The statement comes after the CDC revised its website, suggesting that prior research linking vaccines to autism had been ignored. Experts say this contradicts decades of evidence and stems from a retracted 1998 study that falsely claimed a link between the MMR vaccine and autism.
The alliance said its goal is to safeguard scientific expertise and provide consistent, evidence-based immunization guidance across these states, countering what many Democrats view as a federal shift toward anti-science rhetoric.
