California, Oregon, and Washington have announced the creation of the West Coast Health Alliance, a pact designed to unify health and vaccine policy across the three states. The governors framed it as a safeguard against the politicization of the CDC under President Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Their statement accused the administration of undermining science by firing experts and reshaping the agency for political ends. On the surface, the Alliance looks like a statement of principle. Three large states are banding together to say that they will keep health policy grounded in science even if the federal government does not. Yet it is impossible to ignore the political layer. At least one of these governors is widely viewed as a potential presidential candidate. That fact makes the Alliance feel less like a public health measure and more like a coordinated positioning move. Public reaction will depend on geography. In California, many may welcome the Alliance and see it as a strong stance in favor of medical expertise. In other parts of the country, it will be dismissed as grandstanding or opportunism. Politics is regional, and so is trust. What reassures one community often alienates another. The deeper question is not whether the Alliance is necessary but whether the lessons of COVID have been understood. What we saw in 2020 was how quickly governments across the globe adopted the same messaging. Europe locked down, and within days the United States followed. Markets closed almost overnight. Looking back, much of that reaction appears illogical. But it showed how powerful messaging can be when public health and government align. That power is not neutral. When government and public health agencies share the same message, dissent is minimized. Alternative views are treated as dangerous rather than debated. Citizens are expected to comply without question. In moments of crisis, that level of control can be justified as urgency. In calmer reflection, it is a red flag. COVID revealed how fragile the balance is between health protection and government control. A message can start as advice and end as a mandate. That transformation happens quickly when officials decide unity is more important than debate. Once the message is locked in, it spreads too fast to resist. That is why trust eroded during the pandemic and why many people now question whether leaders acted in good faith. The West Coast Health Alliance may claim to stand for science, but science itself is not what most people question. They question the messengers. When leaders present themselves as defenders of truth while also preparing for national campaigns, the overlap between health and politics becomes impossible to ignore. Personally, I see this as another example of government power tied too closely to public health. When those two institutions align, they gain the ability to control not only policy but also the narrative itself. That level of control is unsafe in an era where technology can amplify messages instantly and silence competing voices. We saw how quickly the message of COVID spread, and how markets, schools, and societies bent to it. That should not be forgotten. The Alliance may succeed in shaping health policy on the West Coast. It may also fuel skepticism everywhere else. Trust in institutions is already low. Efforts that mix public health with politics rarely restore that trust. More often, they deepen the divide. Sources Bloomberg (coverage of Alliance announcement, September 2025) Official joint statement of the Governors of California, Oregon, and Washington (September 2025)