Promoting Covid and Flu Vaccines to Public Quietly Banned by Louisiana Division of Well being: ‘Unscrupulous’

Louisiana Public well being officers aren’t any longer allowed to promote Vaccinationsadditionally these in opposition to ailments like COVID-19 and the fluto members of the general public in a unusual coverage that was secretly carried out within the state.

The coverage was mentioned at two Louisiana Division of Well being conferences on Oct. 3 and Nov. 21. NPR reported. Staff who anonymously mentioned the coverage stated it was meant to be carried out quietly and was by no means written down.

The restrictions imposed on public medical experts are intensive. They’re prohibited from distributing press releases, giving interviews, holding vaccination occasions, giving displays or making social media posts that promote the advantages of vaccinations and encourage the general public to obtain them.

The coverage comes after President-elect Donald Trump named former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his nominee to guide the Division of Well being and Human Companies. RFK Jr., a widely known anti-vaxxer, has carried out this often Perpetuated myths about vaccines, together with a debunked conspiracy idea pointing to vaccinations as a explanation for autism in kids.

Trump stood agency on his nomination of RFK Jr., saying that he was “a lot much less radical than individuals would consider” and that he was “very open-minded.”

Louisiana Division of Well being staff maintain expressed frustration with the unusual rule, and plenty of of them expressed concern in regards to the potential unfold of illness in consequence of the unusual rule.

“Attain they wish to demolish public well being?” stated a well being division official.

“We’re actually speaking about deaths,” stated one other. “Even lowering flu and COVID vaccinations could result in extra deaths.”

“It is a step backwards,” stated Kimberly Hood, who led the Workplace of Public Well being, a subunit of the Division of Well being and Human Companies, from 2021 to 2022. “It’s a medical miracle that we’re lucky sufficient to stay in a time when vaccines will not be accessible to us, and it’s unconscionable to not compose exhaust of this software.”