The Louisiana Department of Health has ended all vaccine events and instructed staff not to encourage immunizations, according to an internal memo that was sent to staff Thursday and obtained by WWNO/WRKF.
The directive continues a dramatic shift in vaccine policy within the health department under the leadership of Surgeon General Dr. Ralph Abraham and Deputy Surgeon General Dr. Wyche Coleman, both of whom have repeated vaccine misinformation. WWNO/WRKF and NPR first reported that the department instituted a sweeping ban on any promotion of COVID, influenza or mpox vaccines last year, including events designed to make it easier for people to get vaccinated.
Thursday’s staff memo, first reported by NOLA.com, was sent the same day that Abraham and Coleman published a statement on LDH’s website condemning public health measures taken during the COVID pandemic and attacking vaccine recommendations. It was also sent the same day Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist, was confirmed to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“This is a false approach to public health and it can harm people,” said Dr. Joseph Bocchini, a pediatric infectious disease expert and director of Willis Knighton Children's Health Services, who’s also the president of the Louisiana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
He said the statements go against two core tenets of public health: protecting the community and preventing diseases. Abraham’s approach “has led to a passive public health department that’s not doing what’s necessary to protect the people in our state,” Bocchini said.
In a post on Facebook linking to his statement, Abraham wrote that vaccine recommendations amount to “collectivist ideologies willing to sacrifice a few for the greater good seldom work and are a poor way to practice medicine” and that “the decision to take any pharmaceutical product should be left to the patient, in consultation with their doctor, free from any coercion from the Louisiana Department of Health.”
A health department employee called his statement “disgusting political garbage.”
Jennifer Herricks, the founder of Louisiana Families for Vaccines, said that the policy could cause fewer people to get vaccinated.
“And the consequences of lower vaccination rates? More illness. More hospitalizations. More deaths,” she said in a statement, adding the policy is a “frightening shift away from evidence-based policymaking.”
Public health experts previously told WWNO/WRKF and NPR that Abraham’s dramatic withdrawal from promoting vaccines was “unconscionable,” “absurd,” “dangerous” and could lead to more illness and deaths.
Memo ends all mass vaccination events
In the memo, Abraham said it’s the health department’s role “to present scientifically-based information about health care and public health interventions.”
The scientific consensus has long been that vaccines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are safe, effective, and critical for preventing the spread of infectious diseases that run the gamut from whopping cough and polio to the flu and COVID.
But, “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,” Abraham continued.
Bocchini said many people in Louisiana don’t have a health care provider and they need advice from public health agencies about what vaccines can protect them against serious infections. Thousands of children and tens of thousands of adults were uninsured in the state in 2021, according to LDH data.
“If you have a vaccine that’s beneficial universally, then the only reason not to recommend getting that vaccine is if the patient has a contraindication. Otherwise, it should be recommended that everyone get the vaccine,” Bocchini said.
In the memo, Abraham also said the department will “no longer promote mass vaccination” — meaning an end to vaccine clinics that have become an established practice to bolster community protection from infectious diseases, for example during flu season. Parish health clinics “will continue to stock and provide vaccines,” he said, though he didn’t state which vaccines will be available.
He stressed the need for informed consent and personal choice, saying that staff “are directed to use language with a renewed focus on meeting people where they are.”
Aly Neel, a former communications director at the health department under Gov. John Bel Edwards, criticized the memo, arguing that not promoting vaccines could “create a vacuum that leads to confusion and uncertainty.”
“Meeting people where they are means not only providing trusted information but also making vaccines easily accessible and affordable—including through community vaccination events,” she said. “Promoting vaccines isn’t just about science; it’s about protecting families and keeping our communities strong.”
Bocchini said the memo comes as the U.S. is experiencing a 15-year high for influenza cases, with Louisiana leading the country. And yet LDH has not encouraged people to get the flu shot.
“Why isn’t public health promoting vaccines now that we know there is an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease?” he asked. “That to me is a failure of public health.”
There’s also an outbreak of whopping cough, or pertussis, cases, he added. “Why aren’t we at a public health level reminding people of the importance of keeping up to date on your pertussis vaccine doses?”
Public statement takes stark tone against vaccines
In the public statement co-signed by Wyche and published within hours of the memo, Abraham took a harsher tone against vaccines. He repeated criticisms against the state’s COVID response he made during a legislative meeting last year, arguing they caused mistrust in public health agencies, and he singled out vaccines as “the greatest missteps.”
The statement made claims about early COVID vaccine efficacy that Bocchini called “a misrepresentation of what happened” that is “providing a skewed rationale for what’s being said here.” He said the statement “is all done in pejorative terms.”
Abraham and Wyche criticized what they called a public health goal to “push pharmaceuticals,” dubbing vaccine promotion “a one-size-fits-all, collectivist mentality whose main objective is maximal compliance.”
“Under this ideology, the sacrifice of a few is acceptable and necessary for the ‘greater good,’” they wrote.
Bocchini stressed that vaccine recommendations can not only protect individuals from potentially deadly diseases — when enough of the public is immunized, those who can’t get vaccinated for health reasons, including young children or those undergoing cancer treatment, are also protected.
In the staff memo, Abraham said the department will rely on “expert advice” on emerging diseases.
“Government should admit the limitations of its role in people’s lives and pull back its tentacles from the practice of medicine,” Wyche and Abraham wrote in their statement, ending it with “informed, personalized care is guided by compassion and expertise rather than blanket government mandates.”
Bocchini has over 50 years of expertise in infectious diseases. He is a former member of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices at the CDC — the group of medical and public health experts that sets vaccine recommendations.
He said drawing a stark line between doctors and public health guidance doesn’t make sense, because physicians rely on that guidance when counseling patients.
Late last year, Bocchini was among the national vaccine and public health experts who previously told WWNO/WRKF and NPR they were alarmed by the health department’s policy to ban the promotion of COVID, flu and mpox vaccines.
Bocchini saw children hospitalized with measles early in his career, a disease that can cause hearing loss, brain damage and death.
"I've been a physician for 50 years, so I've seen a lot of these diseases disappear, and they've disappeared because of safe and effective vaccines," he said.
