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   From: revisionism@splcenter.org   
      
   A group of high-level managers at the Louisiana Department of Health   
   walked into a Nov. 14 meeting in Baton Rouge expecting to talk about   
   outreach and community events.   
      
   Instead, they were told by an assistant secretary in the department and   
   another official that department leadership had a new policy: Advertising   
   or otherwise promoting the COVID, influenza or mpox vaccines, an   
   established practice there — and at most other public health entities in   
   the U.S. — must stop.   
      
   NPR has confirmed the policy was discussed at this meeting, and at two   
   other meetings held within the department's Office of Public Health, on   
   Oct. 3 and Nov. 21, through interviews with four employees at the   
   Department of Health, which employs more than 6,500 people and is the   
   state's largest agency.   
      
   According to the employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity   
   because they fear losing their jobs or other forms of retaliation, the   
   policy would be implemented quietly and would not be put in writing.   
      
   Staffers were also told that it applies to every aspect of the health   
   department's work: Employees could not send out press releases, give   
   interviews, hold vaccine events, give presentations or create social media   
   posts encouraging the public to get the vaccines. They also could not put   
   up signs at the department's clinics that COVID, flu or mpox vaccines were   
   available on site.   
      
   The new policy in Louisiana was implemented as some politicians have   
   promoted false information about vaccines and as President-elect Donald   
   Trump seeks to have anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr lead the   
   U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. And some public health   
   experts are concerned that if other states follow Louisiana, the U.S.   
   could face rising levels of disease and further erosion of trust in the   
   nation's public health infrastructure.   
      
   At a Dec. 16 news conference, Trump addressed ongoing concerns about   
   Kennedy's nomination, and whether it could lead to significant changes in   
   national vaccine policy.   
      
   Trump said that Kennedy will be "much less radical than you would think"   
   and that he has "a very open mind." Trump also called himself a "big   
   believer" in the polio vaccine and said "you're not going to lose the   
   polio vaccine."   
      
   A blow to public health practice   
   Staff at Louisiana's health department fear the new policy undermines   
   their efforts to protect the public, and violates the fundamental mission   
   of public health: to prevent illness and disease by following the science.   
      
   "I mean, do they want to dismantle public health?" one employee at the   
   health department said.   
      
   "We're really talking about deaths," said another. "Even a reduction in   
   flu and COVID vaccines can lead to increased deaths."   
      
   Gov. Jeff Landry's office referred questions to the Louisiana Department   
   of Health, and did not respond when asked if Landry supports the changes.   
      
   In a statement, the Louisiana Department of Health told NPR it has been   
   "reevaluating both the state's public health priorities as well as our   
   messaging around vaccine promotion, especially for COVID-19 and   
   influenza."   
      
   The statement described the move as a shift "away from one-size-fits-all   
   paternalistic guidance" to a stance in which "immunization for any   
   vaccine, along with practices like mask wearing and social distancing, are   
   an individual's personal choice."   
      
   The statement did not address mpox vaccinations.   
      
   The statement said that the flu vaccine can reduce illness severity and   
   therefore may help high-risk patients — but falsely claimed "the flu   
   vaccine does not prevent one from getting the influenza virus." According   
   to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the vaccine reduces the   
   risk of getting the flu.   
      
   Experts fear consequences of undermining trust in vaccine   
   Last year, 652 people in Louisiana died of COVID, including five children.   
   Louisiana currently is tied with DC for the highest rate of flu in the   
   U.S. In 2022 alone, flu killed 586 people in Louisiana.   
      
   Every health department staff member, former staff member, public health   
   official and vaccine expert contacted by NPR repeated the scientific   
   consensus that vaccines are safe, effective, and essential for preventing   
   illness, hospitalizations, and deaths.   
      
   "It's a step backwards," said Kimberly Hood, who led the Office of Public   
   Health, a subunit of the health department, from 2021 to 2022. "It's a   
   medical marvel that we're fortunate enough to live in a time where these   
   vaccines are available to us, and to not make use of that tool is   
   unconscionable."   
      
   The policy rises to the level of "absurdity," said Dr. Paul Offit,   
   director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of   
   Philadelphia. "It's gotten to the point of parody, where a public health   
   agency doesn't promote the public's health."   
      
   "It's a dangerous, dangerous thing," Offit said. "It's the most vulnerable   
   among us who suffer this, and it will be our children who suffer this. And   
   my question will be, will they be held accountable?"   
      
   The policy is akin to "malpractice," especially given Louisiana's poor   
   health outcomes, said Dr. Georges Benjamin, the executive director of the   
   American Public Health Association (APHA).   
      
   The U.S. vaccination program represents "one of the most important public   
   health interventions that we have," Benjamin added.   
      
   "It's reckless," said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at   
   Georgetown University. "I think it's a sign of what is about to happen   
   under the second Trump administration."   
      
   If U.S. senators confirm Kennedy to run HHS, he said, "we're going to see   
   the fomenting of public distrust of vaccines so we lose precious herd   
   immunity, and we're going to see major outbreaks of disease that are fully   
   preventable over the next four years."   
      
   NPR reached out to Kennedy for comment but did not hear back.   
      
   Policy change follows new governor's election   
   Until becoming Louisiana governor in early 2024, Republican Jeff Landry   
   served as the state's attorney general for eight years. During the   
   pandemic, he criticized the state's COVID response and filed lawsuits over   
   federal and state vaccine mandates.   
      
   On Dec. 6, 2021, Attorney General Landry spoke at a state committee   
   hearing against adding COVID to the childhood immunization schedule. At   
   his side was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who presented false claims about   
   COVID vaccines.   
      
   This year the Republican-controlled legislature passed five bills — all   
   signed by Gov. Landry — and two resolutions aimed at loosening vaccine   
   requirements, limiting the power of public health authorities and sowing   
   doubt about vaccine safety.   
      
   Gov. Landry also appointed Dr. Ralph Abraham, a family medicine doctor, to   
   be the state's surgeon general. That position co-leads the Department of   
   Health, and is tasked with crafting health policy that is then carried out   
   by the departmental co-leader, the secretary.   
      
      
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