The Louisiana Department of Health has terminated mass vaccination campaigns and barred public health workers from recommending seasonal vaccines, The Times-Picayune reported Feb. 13.
Five notes:
1. Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, MD, issued a memo to state health workers Feb. 13 that said medical decision-making should occur between patients and physicians, not public health workers.
"Rather than instructing individuals to receive any and all vaccines, LDH staff should communicate data regarding the reduced risk of disease, hospitalization, and death associated with a vaccine and encourage individuals to discuss considerations for vaccination with their healthcare provider," he wrote in the directive, obtained by The Times-Picayune.
2. While the state's public health divisions will still stock vaccines, the department "will no longer promote mass vaccinations," the document said.
3. The New Orleans Health Department, which operates independently of the state, told The New York Times it would continue to promote childhood and seasonal vaccines, and expand its efforts to fill any gaps left by the state's new directive.
4. Alongside his staff memo, Dr. Abraham posted a public statement Feb. 13, criticizing state and federal officials' response to the pandemic, including vaccine mandates.
"For the past couple of decades, public health agencies at the state and federal level have viewed it as a primary role to push pharmaceutical products, particularly vaccines," he wrote. "Perhaps there are some treatments that every human being should take, but they are few and far between, and things that are good generally don't have to be pushed by the government. Medical decision-making is a zero-sum game: when outside forces get involved, patient autonomy is sacrificed."
5. Dr. Abraham's actions came the same day Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has previously questioned the safety and efficacy of vaccines, was confirmed as HHS secretary. The Louisiana Health Department did not respond to The Times-Picayune's request for comment.