According to the Louisiana Ministry of Health, it will not promote “mass vaccination”.
Louisiana’s top health officer said in an internal memo to the state’s Ministry of Health on Thursday that it would no longer use media campaigns or health fairs to promote vaccination against avoidable diseases.
The official, Dr. Ralph L. Abraham, general surgeon of Louisiana, wrote in the memo that the state would “encourage every patient to discuss the risks and advantages of vaccination with its provider, but” no longer any mass vaccination “.
The letter came on a day when the US Senate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who raised questions about vaccines, confirmed as a new US health secretary. However, it was not clear whether the memo had come to a response to the change in the federal leadership.
“Vaccines should be treated with nuances and recognize differences between seasonal vaccines and vaccinations in childhood, which represent an important part of immunity for our children,” wrote Dr. Abraham, a former Republican congress member.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health in Louisiana did not immediately answer questions about the scope of the directive on Thursday evening and how this could affect the distribution of vaccines.
The health department in New Orleans, the largest city of Louisiana, quickly said that it would not follow the state’s management.
“We will continue to promote childhood and seasonal vaccination and expand our efforts on site to close all gaps through the new direction of the state,” said Dr. Jennifer Avegno, director of the Ministry of Health in New Orleans, in an e -mail.
The city’s health department is the only one in the state that works regardless of the Ministry of Health in Louisiana.
In his memo, Dr. Abraham that the State Ministry of Health would also stop promoting vaccinations through “partnerships” and “community -health units”.
He wrote that health officers should not “instruct individuals to receive all vaccines” but should provide data on the reduced health risks with the receipt of vaccinations.
“For many diseases, vaccines are a tool in the toolbox of combating serious illnesses,” wrote Dr. Abraham and added that state health officers should concentrate on “meeting people where they are”.
During the Covid pandemic, Louisiana had the lowest vaccination rates in the country, and the workers of the healthcare work fought to fight misinformation about Coronavirus’ security.
On Thursday, Dr. Abraham also with his deputy general surgeon Wyche T. Coleman a great public explanation in which he criticized how the health authorities of the state and state authorities had reacted to pandemic.
Dr. Abraham and Dr. Coleman wrote that the implementation of vaccination mandates “was a crime against personal autonomy, the overcoming of which will take years”.
In June Dr. Abraham from the Governor of General of the State, the Republican Jeff Landry, appointed general surgeon in Louisiana. Last year, Landry John Bel Edwards, the democratic governor who led Louisiana through the pandemic. Mr. Edwards fought against the legislators of the state and Mr. Landry – then the state’s attorney in general – in order to implement vaccinating mandates.
Dr. Abraham mentioned Covid in his memo about vaccinations that Dr. Pete Croughan, the deputy secretary of the department, was not provided.
The Zeit-Picayune of New Orleans previously reported on the memo.
The US Ministry of Health and Human Services did not immediately answer a request for comments on Thursday evening.
Louisiana has a flu this winter.
Emily Cochrane contributed the reporting.
