LDH Prohibiting Workers from Promoting Vaccines

The Louisiana Department of Health recently announced that they are prohibiting workers from promoting certain "seasonal vaccines" like flu, COVID and mpox.   That includes advertising, promoting on social media, giving media interviews and holding vaccine events. 

Rosemary Westwood broke the story for NPR; she says health professionals she’s talked to are concerned. 

“To lose that, I think health officials feel is definitely a problem that they feel will lead to greater illnesses and deaths.” 

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Westwood says part of the directive comes from state Surgeon General Dr. Ralph Abraham. KEEL News has reached out to Dr. Abraham for comments, but haven't heard back from his office yet.

“Abraham has given public statements and signed a letter, both of which contained misinformation about the COVID vaccine and about public health measures, including masking,” Westwood notes. 

Westwood says Dr. Abraham and Deputy Surgeon General Dr. Wyche Coleman have supported asking the legislature to look into any link between vaccines and autism, which has been widely debunked by the medical community. 

“There is no link between immunizations and autism,” Westwood says, “but both physicians supported the legislature looking into that issue. 

Promoting seasonal vaccines is nothing new, and Westwood says something that the Department of Health had regularly done, especially since the start of the COVID pandemic. 

“In past years, they’ve spent over $170,000 just on outside paid advertisements across billboards or social media or transit giving people the facts about these vaccines and encouraging them to get them,” says Westwood. 

 

But Westwood says the policy not being put into writing has put department workers in an uncomfortable position. 

“There’s no official policy they can go to for clarity around whether what they might be saying or doing is okay or is not okay,” Westwood says. 

The Louisiana Department of Health has released a statement defending its new direction on the lack of promotion of seasonal vaccines. 

“As the country continues to shift out of the pandemic and public health emergency, the Department has been focused on reevaluating both the state’s health priorities as well as our messaging around vaccine promotion, especially for COVID-19 and influenza, which were a priority throughout the pandemic,” the statement reads. 

“In general, the department is shifting away from one-size-fits-all paternalistic guidance to a more informative approach aimed at enabling individuals, in consultation with their doctor, to make better decisions for themselves,” the statement concludes. 

The statement says Dr. Abraham has expressed personal concern about the efficacy and safety of the COVID vaccine. 

“The department’s stance is that immunization for any vaccine, along with practices like mask wearing and social distancing, are an individual’s personal choice,” the statement says. “If an individual has questions on whether or not they should get a certain vaccine, that discussion and decision should occur between a patient and their healthcare provider, who best understands their individual situation and medical history.” 

The statement says these changes do not change the department’s policy or messaging about childhood immunizations.